


The Scarecrow Left His Field

by Kelakair



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, Friends to Lovers, Good Uchiha Obito, M/M, Missing-Nin Hatake Kakashi, Nohara Rin Lives, Obito was saved at Kannabi Bridge, Uchiha Obito Lives, mention and graphic depictions of suicide, sensei!obito, some conspiracy theory, thank you Orochimaru for Hashirama's cells
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-08
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 21:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 19
Words: 66,927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27933055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelakair/pseuds/Kelakair
Summary: Obito kept dreaming about the past. In his dream was the last conversation he had with Kakashi in the Hatake's old house, the grievous news of preparing a funeral for his friend and roommate, and a dead shinobi whose chest was thrust through by Chidori.Obito was desperate to know the truth. He wanted to know why Hatake Kakashi of all people betrayed the village and killed his comrade. He wanted to know how the bastard could be so ruthless to abandon him and Rin. He also wanted to know what on earth happened in the silver-haired ANBU's last mission.But first of all, he must find the scarecrow.Team Seven sensei! Obito X Missing-nin! Kakashi
Relationships: Dai-nana-han | Team 7 & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi & Nohara Rin & Uchiha Obito, Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Comments: 304
Kudos: 535





	1. The Day Team Seven Was Formed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.  
> The story basically follows the timeline in canon, but the plot is quite different. And let's assume in this world Kyuubi broke the seal by himself when Kushina was giving birth to Naruto, which means there will be nothing to do with Madara, or Black Zetsu, or even Akatsuki.  
> Other small changes to canon will be explained as the story goes. Welcome and enjoy!

He was running in a long, empty corridor.

The fluorescent lamp cast a pale light overhead. There were identical, unmarked doors in the white walls of both sides. The patter of footsteps echoed as the soles of his shoes continuously hit the marble floor. 

_Where am I?_

It's the hospital. As a shinobi who had been on the battlefield since his childhood and sent on various dangerous missions all the year round, he was no stranger to this place, and could even be considered as a regular visitor. Besides, Rin worked here.

_Rin?_

The moment he thought of his brown-haired teammate, he heard someone's footsteps from behind, accompanied by light but rapid breaths. He didn't look back. He knew it was Rin following, pale and upset, just like himself.

_Why upset?_

He glanced down at himself when running. Not the jonin uniform he was usually in, but a pure black one with a white flower pinned on the left chest. It's the dress for a funeral.

_Whose funeral?_

…No. It's not the time to think about it. The funeral had been cancelled, which was why he and Rin left the cemetery and rushed to the hospital. They came here on the Third Hokage's demand, to... identify a body.

_Whose body?_

Before he could figure out the answer, he had reached the end of the corridor. He stopped at the closed door, took a deep breath before pushing it open with two hands.

It was the morgue. The first thing he saw was a metal platform in the middle of the room, on which lay a dead ANBU. His immediate reaction was to look at the man's face: totally unfamiliar to him.

He breathed a sigh of relief. Before he could completely rest assured, his eye caught a glimpse of the terrible blood hole in the dead man's chest-

He knew _what_ can cause such a fatal injury. He knew it too well.

"Here you are," a voice sounded in his ear. He quickly looked up and saw Sandaime, Danzo and several medical-nin standing behind the platform. They may had just appeared, or had been there in the first place, but he failed to notice before.

The speaker was Sandaime. The voice of Hokage was old and tired. "I need to hear the truth. Was this wound caused by Chidori? "

He was silent. He wanted to say no, to say there must be some misunderstanding, because something like this should never happen. Because _he_ would never have killed a comrade from Konoha.

But he couldn't. He must not lie to the Hokage that he was loyal to.

"...Yes," he heard his own voice, so hoarse as if his vocal cords were ruined by that boulder.

Rin let out a low sob.

"Now it's all clear," Danzo said. His tone was cold with a hint of triumphalism. "Hatake Kakashi is still alive, and he betrayed Konoha. He is a missing-nin now. "

The moment the name was spoken out, he felt his throat strangled by an invisible hand, made him hard to breathe. His eye wandered aimlessly and finally fell back on the face of the dead, but lying there was no longer a stranger-

It's _that_ missing-nin. The man opened his mismatched eyes, red and black, staring straight at him.

" _Obito_ ," he heard his name come out of the lips under the mask, like a call from hell. " _I will leave Konoha and never come back. I-_ "

* * *

_Knock knock!_

Before the word "hate" was spoken out, a loud knock on the door awakened Uchiha Obito from his nightmare.

Snapped open his right eye, he stared at the ceiling. The black pattern spinning wildly in his eye turned back to three tomoes, whirling slower and slower then stopped. Finally, the pupil turned back to black.

"Come in," he said in a low voice, trying to calm his violent breathing.

The door opened. His distant cousin, Uchiha Sasuke, who was also his ward and one of the only two remaining clansmen in the world, was standing at the door. One hand on the doorknob and the other in his pocket, the boy looked at him with an impatient look.

Another kid's wild singing wafted up from downstairs.

"You'd better check the time," Sasuke reprimanded him in a parent's tone. "If you don't come down, the idiot Naruto will blow up the kitchen and submerge the whole first floor with his instant noodles."

"Sasuke you asshole! Stop being a tattletale and leave Obito-nii alone!" The kid downstairs obviously had very good ears, and immediately retorted at full volume.

Obito sighed deeply. "If you two can stop fighting for one day, my life will be ten years longer." He sat up and rubbed his temples with his fingers, feeling a familiar dull pain run through his skull, straightly into the empty eye socket.

Sasuke snorted, "not my fault anyway." He looked at Obito narrowly. "Nightmare again?"

Obito didn't reply.

Sasuke's eyes swept across the room with his usual disapproval. "You need to change a bedroom," he commented. "This one is gloomy."

Obito looked around. The furnishings in the room were very simple, a bed, a wardrobe, a set of desk and chair and a calendar on the wall. Nothing else, even any decorative green plants or paintings.

For more than one decade, the layout of this bedroom had never changed a bit, still kept as when its first owner was living here.

"I'm used to it," answered Obito.

Sasuke gave him a "I knew it" look, closed the door before leaving.

Obito got out of the bed. At the speed of a trained shinobi, he quickly dressed and folded the quilt. He grabbed the forehead protector on the bedside table and tied it casually around his neck, ready to wash up first and then go downstairs for breakfast.

Before leaving the room, he stopped, turned his eye to the photo on his desk.

"Good morning," he said, looking at the silver-haired boy in the photo. "Kakashi."

* * *

Even Obito had to admit that boys in their teens always had limitless vigor. And when two such kids got together and quarreled with each other all day long, this vigor soon became an endless disaster.

Although Obito has never regretted taking care of his younger cousin and his sensei's son, sometimes he really wanted to stick the heads of these little bastards into the sink.

"The one can't keep his mouth closed will be responsible for cleaning the toilet at this weekend!" He threatened.

Naruto and Sasuke, who were just bickering happily about some random trivia, shut up instantly and turned their bright eyes to him.

 _Great,_ Obito thought. _The toilet is mine._

"After the allocation, just stay in the classroom and wait for me, ok? Don't run around." He knocked the bottom of the milk cup on the table as an emphasis. 

"You won't be late, will you?" Sasuke looked at him suspiciously.

"H- how can I be late in such an important day?" Obito retorted, looking away with a guilty expression.

"Man, that's boring," Naruto mumbled, bending over the table. "I can't see any suspense about the allocation."

"You always want to be in the same team with Sakura, don't you?" Obito raised his eyebrows.

"That's not the case!" Naruto bounced up from his seat and pointed an angry finger at the black-haired teenager sitting opposite. "But I don't want to be with the asshole Sasuke! And our jonin sensei will no doubt be you, Obito-nii! I've been stuck with you two from every morning to night, and when I finally graduate and become a genin, there you are again! I want to meet someone new!"

Obito was not angry at all. He knew more than anyone how Naruto cherished his bonds with him and Sasuke. And he knew Sasuke knew it, too.

"No one can keep you two well-behaved at the same time, unless some super elite jonin like me," he said and crossed his legs triumphantly. "You've no choice but accept it!"

Sasuke snorted scornfully before finishing his last sip of milk. "I'm leaving."

"Hey, wait a second! I'm not finished yet!"

"Tardy as always, deadlast."

Obito stood up and started to clear up the table. He shouted to the boys who were walking towards the entrance while still pushing each other, "no fighting on the way and don't be late!"

"Only you have no position to say that!" Naruto and Sasuke answered in unison.

They left. Humming a tune, Obito washed dishes and put them into the cupboard. Then he put on his forehead protector and the green vest. He stopped to adjust his clothes when he passed the mirror at the entrance, showing a confident and brilliant grin to himself.

The moment he opened the door, the grin vanished from his face.

"I'm leaving," looking back, he said to the empty house. "See you tonight, Kakashi."

* * *

Here was the Konoha cemetery.

Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina's tombstones were adjacent to each other. They were at the first row, closest to the statue of the Will of Fire. A place for heroes who had sacrificed for the village.

"Good morning, sensei, Kushina," after replacing the withered flowers, Obito squatted down in front of the tombstone of Minato. "From today on, I'm also a sensei."

"Naruto will officially become my student. I promise you, I will do everything I can to protect him, teach him, and let him grow into a qualified Hokage... Of course, I'll be the Fifth. But I'll leave the place of Rokudaime to him. " He chuckled.

"Besides this... nothing new. "

After these words, he went silent, staring at his sensei's name and lost in his own mind.

"Time to go to the Academy has passed, Obito," a familiar voice sounded behind him.

"Hi Rin," he stood up and turned around, greeted his teammate in a relaxed tone. "How's Sakura doing?"

"She's good," mention of her favorite disciple made Rin show a soft smile, eyes flashing with pride. "My decision wasn't wrong. She is a good girl and will definitely become an excellent medical-nin in the future. How about Naruto and Sasuke? Still the same? "

"Yeah," Obito shrugged and showed an exaggerated helpless expression. "It'll rain shuriken if they can stop fighting each other."

Rin giggled. Then her smile faded, and they fell into silence.

"Obito," the kunoichi bowed her head, expression blocked by her hair on the temple. "It's been... eleven years. "

Obito didn't say anything.

He looked at Rin. It seemed that Rin's life had been back to normal, a quiet and regular one; she worked hard, treated people gently, and spent her spare time with friends, talking and laughing. It looked like nothing had changed to her except that she'd been avoided talking about anything related to Kakashi.

But Obito knew more than that. He knew Rin had never been able to recover completely. Although she would no longer cry about it, but a part of her heart had been lost with Kakashi's leaving.

What about himself?

In the past eleven years, Uchiha Obito had been living two different lives at the same time.

One was at present. He is still that Obito whom his friends were familiar with, energetic, helpful, usually careless but extremely reliable at critical moments. Unlike Rin, he never avoided talking about Kakashi- though few would do so in his presence. When mentioning the man, his attitude was just like mentioning some random guy who he once had friendship with, but now the contact had been completely cut off.

The other was in the past. Every time he closed his eye, his mind would be automatically sent back to eleven years ago, when Kakashi was still a member of Konoha. Those intimate moments, the three years after the battle at Kannabi Bridge, had been haunting him every single night, twisted by the subconscious fear in his heart and turned into the last images he wanted to see. Nonetheless, every time before he went to bed, he was still eager to meet the silver-haired boy again in his dream.

It was like drinking poison to quench thirst. His heart had been hollowed out by the past.

"I should go now," waking up from the memory, Obito said.

Before Rin could answer, he activated Kamui and vanished into opening rift.

* * *

The bell test went smooth.

Living together since seven, Naruto and Sasuke knew each other so well that they could just use eye contact to communicate. As for Sakura, she often came to train with the boys after being selected and becoming Rin's disciple two years ago, so they were also familiar with one another.

 _Splendid team work,_ thought Obito. _Much better than ours back then._

"You guys all pass! Starting tomorrow Team Seven will begin our duties!" Obito exclaimed with a wide grin. He was sprawling on the grass of the Third Training Ground, while the three kids lying on him like a human pyramid. "As a reward, I'll treat you to lunch!"

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up happily, threw Sasuke on him and Sakura on Sasuke aside. "Ramen, ramen! I want ramen!"

"Naruto, is there only ramen on your menu?" Sakura complained, rubbing her aching elbow. "Every time we eat out you'll never change to something different!"

"Because his head is full of ramen soup," Sasuke stood up, beating the dust off his shorts.

Before Naruto could rush towards Sasuke and put him to the ground, Obito jumped up, just in time to hold the blond boy round his waist.

"Save ramen for the next time," he patted Naruto on the head. "Let's go! Rin is waiting."

* * *

When the newborn Team Seven came to the restaurant, Rin had already picked a good seat, waving to them.

"You are now Konoha's shinobi," she looked at the three genin with fond eyes. "Congratulations!"

"This is just the first step, Rin nee-san!" Naruto waved his fist with confidence. "I'll become Hokage in the future, and be greater than any previous ones! "

"I have to remind you that by the time you become Hokage, I should already been included in the list of 'previous ones'," Obito interjected as he read the menu. "So give up being 'greater'." 

He closed the menu and handed it back to the waiter, "salt-broiled saury and eggplant-mixed miso soup*."

Rin was pouring tea for everyone. There was a brief pause as she heard Obito's words, but the three genin didn't notice it.

The elder Uchiha's expression was impeccable. He had a brilliant smile and chatted with his students. The atmosphere of joy continued until the dishes were served, and when looking at the fish and eggplant in front of Obito, Naruto realized something unusual. "Obito-nii, don't you like sweet food? Why did you order these? "

"First of all, you should now call me 'Obito-sensei'," Obito picked up a piece of eggplant. "And occasionally I'd like to change my taste." 

There was a sudden silence on the table. Rin's eyes were fixed on the dish of fish. The smile on her face disappeared and a touch of sadness rose in her eyes. Sakura and Sasuke were aware of the abnormal mood of the adults and ate quietly.

Only Naruto was not affected at all. "I can have ramen 365 days a year," he put a whole piece of roasted pork in his mouth, his cheek bulging like a hamster.

No one answered immediately. Then, after a moment.

"Big idiot," Sasuke said.

Naruto jumped up. "Sasuke asshole, what did you say?!"

The two soon started quarreling again, and the heavy atmosphere around them was instantly lifted away. Watching them with a smile, Obito didn't bother to stop the kids, instead picked up a piece of fish in his chopsticks.

 _Maybe the cook accidentally punctured the gall bladder_ , the black-haired jonin thought as he chewed and swallowed the fish.

It was so bitter.

* * *

They parted company in front of the restaurant after lunch was finished. Rin took Sakura to the hospital. There was an operation in the afternoon, which was a good chance of observation.

"You can wander around, do training, or go straight home," Obito told the boys. "I have something else to do and may come back late."

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a look. The blond sprang on Obito, putting his arms around the man's waist.

"Obito-nii," Naruto stared up at him with serious blue eyes that looked so much like Minato-sensei. "Is something bothering you? We may not be able to help, but we can at least listen to your complaint."

Obito looked slightly stunned. His eye soon softened. He reached out and rubbed Naruto's hair fondly.

"I'm fine," he said in a light tone. "I just didn't sleep well last night, so I was a little sleepy now."

Naruto's expression clearly showed that he didn't believe it at all. He seemed to want to say something more, but Sasuke came up and grabbed the back collar of his jacket.

"Let's go," the raven-haired boy said simply. "No need to worry about him."

It's rare that this time Naruto didn't easily start another bicker with him. The two kids walked away together; Naruto kept looking back at Obito, until they turned the corner and vanished in the crowd.

Obito watched them leave. Then he put his hands in the pockets, turned around and walked in the opposite direction. When passing a bakery, he paused, and went in after a brief hesitation.

"This one in a gift box please," he said, pointing at something in the window.

* * *

Obito went back to the cemetery. This time, however, instead of going to the front row to visit Minato and Kushina, he went to a lonely corner.

He sat down in front of a tombstone and put the box beside him. This tombstone looked very old, much older than the surrounding ones. Obviously, when the dead was buried, he had been isolated from others.

The name of the person lying underneath was engraved on the tombstone-

 _Hatake Sakumo_.

"Hi, Sakumo-san," in a natural tone, Obito greeted the elder one who he had never really met. "I feel it necessary to pay you a visit today. "

He rested his eye on the tombstone for a while before looking up into the distance.

"Everything goes well recently. I just became a sensei today. Although I've known the kids long, every time I see them, I still can't help but feel... they are so much like us. But they are luckier than us. If I could have been like how Naruto treats Sasuke..."

Obito didn't finish the words. Instead, he took a deep breath and clenched his fists.

"...I just hope they won't end up like us. I'll try my best to protect them, but one day they'll have to be responsible for their own lives. If you see Fugaku-san there, please greet him for me, even though we didn't get on well when he was alive. Please ask him to bless Sasuke. And Itachi. I hope he has forgiven Itachi."

After this, he went silent and buried his face in his hands.

Obito sat in front of the tombstone for a long time, from noon to sunset until darkness fell. At times he continued the one-sided talk with the dead, but more often he just sat there without saying a word.

When the village that had been noisy for the whole day finally became quiet, Obito slowly stood up, stretching his stiff limbs.

"I'm leaving, Sakumo-san," picking up the box, he said. "I'll come to see you when I'm free. And-"

The crimson of Sharingan shone in the dark night in a flash, "- _one day, I'll definitely bring Kakashi back to Konoha_."

* * *

With the spiral rift opened in the air, Obito silently landed in front of the windowsill in his bedroom. It was late, and the two kids were already asleep.

"I'm back, Kakashi," he whispered.

He walked to his desk, tore off the page of _September 15th_ as he passed the calendar.

Obito lit the light, sat down at his desk, and placed the photo directly opposite him. He opened the gift box and took out what's inside- a tiny cake.

"I know you don't like sweet food," he said, looking at the silver-haired boy in the photo. "And you probably forget to celebrate for yourself when you're alone. So I'll do it for you."

"Happy birthday."

He took a bite of the cake.

"...What's wrong with these shops today. The fish was bitter, and now the cake... It's so salty. "

He murmured while eating, tears sliding down his scarred face and seeping into the soft cake.

"This is the eleventh birthday I made up for you. How long should I continue until you show up in front of me? Until you come back to the village? "

"If I had known it was the day we last met, I would have never let you leave without a word like that. "

"Good night, Kakashi. I... miss you."

The moon shed a ghostly light on the ground, illuminating the nameplate of the owner at the gate. A soft night breeze rustled the trees. When the sound stopped, the last light in the Hatake's old house was turned off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Kakashi's favorite food.  
> Yep, Obito was now living with Naruto and Sasuke in Kakashi's house, and the kids were sort of adopted by him (as a big brother). There were some... historical reasons, which will be explained in the future.  
> Next Chapter: Missing-nin Hatake Kakashi.  
> Thanks for R&R!


	2. Living as a Missing-nin

"Here's your tea, sir," the teahouse owner's daughter put the cup on the table.

Sitting there was a young man with light brown hair. He had bandages around his head, covering his left eye and half of his face. He looked like in his middle twenties, wearing a gray blue yukata which outlined his slender body.

"Thank you," he replied, looking up with a gentle smile, the uncovered right eye curled up. There was a small mole under the left corner of his lips, which only added more attraction to this handsome face.

The young waitress couldn't help but blush. She lowered her head, holding the tray tightly in front of her chest. After a few seconds, she secretly raised her eyes, and saw the man had already look away and was now taking a sip of tea.

"Sir, if I may ask..." she finally plucked up her courage and said in a small voice. "What do you do for a living?"

"Me?" The man gestured the large backpack on the bench. In it were various painting tools and a roll of white paper. "I'm a travelling artist."

The girl's eyes widened in surprise. "A travelling artist? But you..." Instead of finishing her words, her eyes moved carefully to the bandages on his head.

"You mean this?" To her relief, the man didn't feel offended. "It's just temporary and won't affect my work. Besides..." He paused, raising a hand to touch his left eye lightly.

"Sometimes, I can see _more_ by this one."

There was only one customer in the teahouse, so the two continued chatting. The young man seemed not to be someone talkative, but he was obviously polite and patient. He would give adequate responses to the topics raised by the girl, so that there wouldn't be any awkward pauses during their conversation.

When the young man was talking about his experience at the seaside, a figure silently emerged from a dark corner several steps behind him. He was in a black ninja suit which wrapped him from head to toes, only except for his upper face. Holding the blow pipe to his lips, he aimed the anesthetic needle at the back of the man's neck, where a small piece of pale skin exposed under the soft brown hair-

"The sunset by the sea is beautiful. I once stood on a cliff and looked into the distance- Ugh!" The travelling artist was about to describe the scenery he saw when he abruptly stopped, eye widened. He soon became dazed, head heavily fell down with a thud. The teacup was also knocked over, and the tea dripped down the edge of the table.

Witnessing this, however, the young girl didn't give any reactions that a civilian should have. She didn't panic or scream; instead, she looked alert and cautious. She slowly reached out her hand hidden behind the tray, and there were three kunai held between her fingers.

She stared at the unconscious man, malice shining in her eyes. She raised her hand to throw out those kunai-

_Poof!_

The young man suddenly disappeared in the white smoke.

"Shit, it's a shadow clone!" This time the teahouse owner's daughter- or more precisely, the kunoichi- was really caught off guard. She murmured a curse and threw away the tray. "It was the original who walked down the road! When did he use the damn ninjustu? And when did he substitute himself with the shadow clone?! "

"Stop hiding! The shadow clone was here just now, so he must haven't gone far. Go after him!" Looking around, she exclaimed in a harsh voice. Another two shinobi appeared from dark corners, rushing towards the door of the teahouse along with the one who had attacked the shadow clone.

The moment they got out of the house, they suddenly stopped.

"Why are you still hanging around here..." The kunoichi also ran out. The scolding words of hers immediately trailed off as she saw the figure on the tree outside.

The silver-haired man was crouching quietly on a branch. His clothes was almost identical to the uniform of Konoha ANBU, except the vest and arm guards were both black. Wearing inside was a navy-blue sleeveless shirt connected to the mask that covered most of his face. His left eye was closed, and there was a vertical scar across the eyelid.

The kunoichi noticed there was bandages around his left shoulder- where the tattoo representing the Will of Fire had used to exist.

Hatake Kakashi looked down at the four shinobi who had tried to plot against him.

"I don't remember having any grudge against you." It was the same voice as the travelling artist, Sukea's, yet the tone was completely different. There was no more courtesy, but coldness and a hint of killing intent.

"Indeed," the kunoichi was the first one to recover from astonishment. She let out a sneer, trying to behave fearless, but the trembling voice gave away her nervousness. "But we don't have a grudge against money, either. Since you defeated a group of A-ranked missing-nin on your own, and succeeded in rescuing the Daimyo's daughter in the Nation of Copper, the bounty put on your head has increased again. Besides-"

She stared at that closed eye. "Few shinobi can keep an apathetic attitude towards a Sharingan that is not protected by any villages or organizations."

"That's the reason I usually hear," Kakashi nodded. "But since the eye is still mine, you should realize those who tried to get it have all failed."

Raising his hand, he gripped the handle of the tanto carried on his back. "Enough talk. You're not Konoha shinobi... which means I don't need to show any mercy."

"Watch out!" The kunoichi yelled a warning, "he's the White Fang's-"

Her scream still lingered in the air when blood squirted out from the wound on the neck of one of her companions. The corpse collapsed, and she saw the silver-haired nukenin- she had no idea when he'd jumped off the tree- standing in front of the dead man, casually shaking off blood from the shining blade.

Then he looked up, gazing at her with that crimson, demonic eye.

"I can see it," the death sentence rang in her ears. " _Your future is nothing but death._ "

* * *

Here was a village called ' _Otonashi no Sato_ '*.

The size of the village was quite small, approximately one tenth of that of Konoha. It didn't belong to any countries, nor its location could be found on any maps. Since establishment, its presence was only spread though words of shinobi's mouths without leaving any written records.

This was the gray area that the Five Nations acquiesced in, thus, a so-called "black market". Shinobi, especially missing-nin, hid their backgrounds and gathered here, trading goods, seeking information, issuing and accepting missions. It was also a shelter for desperate ones, as a conventional rule here was that all fighting was forbidden within the area.

By the time Kakashi stepped into Otonashi no Sato, the sun had fell to the west.

He was wearing a gray cloak with a hood to cover his remarkable silver hair. As he walked past the streets, droplets of blood were left on the ground, but none of the passers-by had showed any reactions. After all, it was just one of the daily scenes here.

Turning into a narrow lane, Kakashi stopped in front of a humble tavern. He pushed the door and entered.

The interior was more spacious than it looked like from outside. People grouped around their tables, drinking sake. Some were chatting loudly, while others were speaking in whispers.

Kakashi went to the counter and greeted the owner. "Sorry for messing up the floor again, Kyoko-san."

The woman called Kyoko was wearing a dark purple kimono with large silver irises embroidered on its cuffs and lower hem. She had good features, tall and perfectly proportioned. She looked young with fine makeup, but the faint wrinkles around her eyes told her true age.

"Doesn't matter, I'm used to it." Kyoko waved his apology away after lazily blowing a ring of smoke. "Well, you have visitors here. Creditable to their information collection, it's not that easy to figure out your whereabouts. " She gestured at somewhere with the long pipe.

Kakashi looked into the direction she was pointing at. As he recognized the figure sitting there, he raised one eyebrow slightly. "Haku? "

"It's been a long time since we last met, Kakashi-san," the boy in green haori rose from his seat and bowed to Kakashi with respect.

"So it's Zabuza waiting for me," Kakashi sighed. He shrugged under his cloak. "As you see, I have to... well, get cleaned up first. I'm afraid you'll need to wait a little longer."

"Of course, please take your time," Haku politely replied. He nodded to Kyoko, "the landlady knows which room we are in."

* * *

Kyoko took Kakashi upstairs.

Pushing open a door at the end of the corridor, she signaled to Kakashi to go in. After they both entered the room, she shut the door and set a small seal on it. "Take off your cloak! The smell of blood on you can be sensed from several streets away. What trouble did you get-"

Kyoko stopped abruptly as she turned around, and continued moments later. "...Were you ambushed or besieged?"

Kakashi had taken off his cloak. His condition was not good: the right arm guard was nowhere to be seen, and his arm was carelessly bandaged from elbow to fingertips, blood still oozing from underneath. What's worse was his abdomen, where a large part under the left rib was a bloody mess and almost untreated.

"Mahh, sort of," Kakashi sat down on the tatami and answered nonchalantly.

The landlady cocked her eyebrows. "How many?"

"Four," Kakashi said. After a pause, he added, "they buried a lot of explosive tags near the teahouse. The owner and his daughter were still trapped inside. "

Kyoko's face softened. She sighed resignedly and fondly. "A missing-nin doesn't do things like _this_. "

Kakashi gave no reply.

Kyoko didn't mind his silence. She took the first-aid kit out of the cabinet and sat down beside Kakashi. After cleaning the wound at the younger man's abdomen, she reached out her hand which was enveloped in a green glow.

Kakashi breathed a sigh of relief. His brows, which had been slightly frowned, finally became smooth.

Neither of them spoke during the treatment. Until the wound stopped bleeding, Kyoko ceased her Mystical Palm Technique and wrapped it up perfectly. Kakashi took off his tattered upper clothes, dug out another sleeveless shirt from the wardrobe and started to put it on clumsily using only his left hand.

Kyoko didn't offer any help. She just sat there, watching Kakashi struggling to dress. Suddenly, her eyes caught a glimpse of the bandages around the silver-haired man's shoulder, stained with blood and dust.

"Kakashi," she asked after a short hesitation. "You'd better... change it too, I think?"

Kakashi was adjusting his mask. Hearing Kyoko's words, he looked back, eye following hers. His hands paused as he realized what she was looking at.

Then he walked back, sat down cross-legged in his previous position without saying a word and took the bandages off his shoulder.

Kyoko held her breath gently.

What's revealed was a burn of the size of an adult's palm, which just completely covered the original ANBU tattoo. It looked old, but still terrifying.

With her medical ninjutsu, Kyoko could have easily healed the burn without leaving any scar. However, when she made the suggestion then, she was grimly rejected by Kakashi, who was even shorter than her at that time.

Since then, every time she saw this scar, Kyoko couldn't help but wonder.

_What was the fifteen-year-old boy thinking when he used a piece of red-hot iron to eliminate the mark with his own hand? And in these eleven years thereafter, what kind of thought made him decide to stubbornly keep the scar?_

_Was it to remind himself not to forget the hatred to his hometown, or...?_

"Kyoko-san?" Kakashi's concerned voice rang in Kyoko's ears.

"Oh, nothing. Sorry, I just lost my mind, " she quickly regained her composure and replied, helping Kakashi to cover the scar with new clean bandages.

"About Zabuza's visit, do you have any idea?" Kakashi asked.

The corner of Kyoko's lips curled up. "I am not the most famous info broker here for nothing. You know I charge a lot when selling information to others, don't you? Just kidding." She took a piece of paper out of her sleeve and handed it to Kakashi, "here, take it. The room number is there, too."

"Thank you," Kakashi skimmed through the content before turning the paper back to Kyoko. Then he stood up and walked towards the door, hands in his pockets.

"Kakashi," Kyoko looked at his back. "Your foster father-"

"He's not my foster father," the silver-haired man stopped and interrupted her in a gentle but categorical tone.

"Well then, your sensei-"

"I only have one sensei." 

"Fine!" Kyoko thumped the tatami with frustration. "When are you going to take what Teruhiko left here for you?"

Kakashi went silent for a moment.

"I don't plan to do that," leaving these words, he unsealed the door and left.

Kyoko was still sitting there. Staring at the closed door, she sighed.

"'Don't plan to do that'... Till now you still acknowledge Namikaze Minato as your _one and only_ sensei. Isn't what it implies clear enough?"

* * *

"Kakashi-san is coming, Zabuza-san," said Haku, stepping away from the door to allow Kakashi to enter.

"Long time no see, Kakashi," a deep voice came from beside the window. "It's been several months, and when I see your damn face, I still feel irritated."

Momochi Zabuza, "Demon of the Hidden Mist", the missing-nin from Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen was sitting on the windowsill, his notorious Executioner's Blade leaning quietly against the wall. Hearing Haku's reminding, he turned his head to face Kakashi with an unfriendly expression.

"So do I when seeing your face," replied Kakashi. He sat down at the low table and politely declined Haku's offer of sake. His eye swept the table, briefly paused as he saw an overturned photo before looking up at the man who came to the table and sat down opposite. "It's rare that you come to me. What's up?"

Zabuza snorted, "don't pretend you know nothing when you're a friend of the strongest info broker in Otonashi no Sato."

"It's about Gatō, right?" Kakashi sighed. "To escort him and his smugglers to the Nation of Wave, and assassinate the local master bridge builder, Tazuna. I just wonder why you need help for such a simple mission."

"Don't misunderstand," Zabuza waved his hand. "Normally I won't share such a well-paid job with others. But I owed you a favor last time and I'd like to pay it off as soon as possible."

"And Gatō somehow heard that you know me, so he insisted that you invite me to join in," Kakashi finished the words for him. He looked at Zabuza's awkward face, "am I right?"

"You really know a lot, Kakashi-san," Haku smiled.

"Then that's not called 'pay it off'. But you'll lose face in front of Gatō if I refuse, won't you? Mahh... I can come with you, actually, but I'll leave as soon as we arrive in the Nation of Wave."

"What about the assassination then?" Zabuza asked.

"Killing civilians is not my cup of tea," Kakashi replied evenly.

"Ridiculous," Zabuza sneered. "Shinobi are tools with no emotions or bias. What's the fundamental difference between killing a civilian and a ninja? Haven't you ever been the evil party when you were on missions as a Konoha ANBU? Killed any unarmed people?"

The atmosphere in the room was suddenly depressed. Kakashi didn't answer immediately; he just stared down at Zabuza's empty sake cup.

"Maybe you're right. I can't say 'no' to what you asked," he finally said after a long time. "But I'm no longer Konoha's ninja. So at least... now I can choose what to do and not to do. "

He raised his eye to show the others a humorless smile. "I guess that's called the freedom of living as a missing-nin."

Zabuza stared narrowly at Kakashi for a while. "Fine," at last he said, and there was no more sarcasm in his voice. "It's settled. You can leave as soon as we arrive at the port, and I'll take care of the rest. Maybe I don't even have to do anything... Gatō has hired the Demon Brothers who're also from Kiri. "

Kakashi nodded absent-mindedly and stood up. "Tomorrow morning? What's the exact time? "

"Seven. We don't live here, but I'll send Haku to pick you up then."

"Alright," Kakashi saluted jokingly and turned to leave.

"Kakashi-san," Haku rose from his seat, "I'll see you to the door."

* * *

The door closed behind them. Kakashi stopped and looked back at the black-haired teenager, as if he wanted to say something but didn't know where to start.

"Yes, Kakashi-san?" Haku asked.

"There's one thing that I want you to warn Zabuza. If it's me saying this, he probably won't listen," Kakashi said. He looked at Haku with a serious face. "Gatō is rich but extremely mean. It's a bit suspicious that he's so generous this time. You should be careful in case he plots against you."

"Thank you for your warning, Kakashi-san. I'll definitely pass it on to Zabuza-san." Haku bowed solemnly. Then the boy raised his head; instead of saying goodbye or anything else, he looked at Kakashi silently.

"...What? " Kakashi rubbed the back of his neck a little uneasily.

"I guess there is some other reason that you decline the assassination mission, Kakashi-san," said Haku. "If the target has known that there is a risk of being targeted, he'll no doubt hire shinobi to escort him. If you don't like to attack civilians, you can just deal with those bodyguards and leave the target to us. But you still refused. "

Kakashi didn't reply.

"If it's for the sake of Zabuza-san, I can kill anybody without hesitation, even if it's someone from Kiri." Haku looked at him with a steely determination in his eyes.

"If you say so," all he got was an half-hearted response.

"Kakashi-san, you're really not like a missing-nin."

"...If you say so."

Leaving these words, the silver-haired man left with hands in his pockets.

* * *

"What did he say?" Zabuza asked when Haku returned.

"Kakashi-san said we'd better keep an eye on Gatō." Haku answered.

"Cautious bastards as always. Fine, if Gatō dares to go back on his words, I'll let him know why my Executioner's Blade has such a name." Zabuza snorted, his eyes twinkled with cruelty.

"Zabuza-san." Haku sat down at his seat. He gazed at the overturned photo on the low table and spoke. "If Kakashi-san agrees to take part in the assassination, will you voluntarily tell him about _it_?"

"Voluntarily?" Zabuza repeated this word, smirking under the bandages. "Well, if he asks, I'll definitely tell the truth; but if he doesn't, I'm not obliged to provide additional information."

"But since he's rejected the mission in the first place, all these assumptions are now meaningless. " He said, reached out and turned over the photo.

The old man in the picture is ordinary looking and simply dressed, looked like just a normal civilian. What's striking were the two huge wooden doors behind him, the spacious road leading to the round tower at the end, and the distant mountain that had all the faces of the Hokage carved into the stone-

It's _Konohagakure._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Otonashi no Sato: Literally means "the village of no sounds".  
> Kyoko and the man Teruhiko she mentioned are both original characters who are close to Kakashi after he left Konoha, and played important roles in what happened 11 years ago. Well, I can't really let Kakashi live alone since 15 years old. That's too tough. We'll know more about them in future chapters (though the main story is still built around Obito and Kakashi, of course).  
> Next chapter: The C-rank (at first) mission to the Nation of Wave. Let's go back to Team Seven and Obito-sensei!  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	3. The Cracked Teacup

He was lying in bed, wrapped in the quilt and curled up into a ball. Last night the curtains were not fully pulled, leaving a narrow gap that allowed dawn into the room. It was a morning in early autumn, and the time was not later than five o'clock.

 _Knock knock._ There was a gentle knock on the bedroom door.

"Obito," Kakashi was calling his name.

He turned towards the wall and didn't answer.

"Obito. I know you're awake," Kakashi raised his voice, and his knock on the door became a little harder.

He kept silent, closing his eye and pretending he was still sleeping- though Kakashi couldn't see it.

"The gathering time for mission is a quarter past five. I have to go. "

His heart was instantly filled with anger. _Mission, mission, mission! Since being admitted into ANBU, this damn Bakakashi, he only has missions in his mind!_

Actually he'd heard the annoying news last night, and they'd quarreled about it. He felt it totally reasonable for him to be so angry: in two days would be Kakashi's birthday, and he and Rin had decided to give their teammate a big surprise. So they planed to secretly invite all their comrades to the Hatake's for a party without letting Kakashi know beforehand. Until now they had contacted everyone, and finished preparing the food ingredients and decorations for the party, yet Kakashi, the would-be center of attention at the party, suddenly said that he had to leave the village for a long-term mission and wouldn't come back in one month-

_….Wait._

_One month?_

_No._

One month later Kakashi _didn't_ come back. Kakashi would _never_ come back.

The adult him abruptly woke up at the moment. Although knowing it was just a dream, a fragment of memory deep inside his mind, he couldn't help but feel panic rising in his chest.

Kakashi was still knocking at the door. Fifteen-year-old him was still lying in bed, sulking, too frustrated and irritated to say goodbye. While the adult him was trapped in this body of a teenager, struggling in despair and roaring silently. How he wished he could jump off the bed, open the door, hold Kakashi tightly in his arms, and never let the other boy out of his sight.

"I'll break in if you keep playing dead!" Kakashi threatened.

The younger him tensed at once. The elder him waited in rapture.

However, like what had happened in reality, Kakashi didn't do anything.

"...Fine. I'm leaving, Obito. Take care of the house." After a short silence, he heard Kakashi whispered outside the door. "And one more thing-"

" _If I don't come back any longer, then forget me._ "

That's something Kakashi hadn't said. It was created by his dream.

His eye snapped open. Finally being able to control this body, he bounced up from the bed, rushing to the door without bothering to wear his shoes and yanked it open.

"Kakashi-!"

As the name was screamed out from the back of his throat, his eye caught sight of the silver-haired boy. Kakashi, in his full ANBU uniform with mask askew on his head and the reforged tanto on his back, was walking towards the end of the corridor. It was supposed to be a stairway there, which was now replaced by chaotic, ominous darkness.

He began running, crying out Kakashi's name and reaching out his arms, desperate to grab the other one's hand, but the corridor which should be just several feet long seemed now to be infinitely extended by some unknown forces. No matter how hard he had tried, he could only watch Kakashi slowly walking away from him and stepping into the darkness.

Before being completely engulfed by darkness, Kakashi suddenly stopped and looked back at him, silver hair and the red eye gleamed against the pure black.

* * *

"...!"

The branches on the fire crackled and spat. Obito sat up with a jerk from the stump he was leaning against, almost having collided with Sakura who was squatting aside and looking at him.

"Shhh- " before the girl could let out a scream, Obito quickly covered her mouth with one hand and put a finger over his lips. Looking around warily, he saw that Sasuke, Naruto and their client, Tazuna, were all sleeping soundly. 

He put down his hand and asked in a low voice, "what's up?"

Sakura shook her head and whispered, "nothing, actually. I just saw you seemed to be having a nightmare, and wondered if I should wake you up." She looked at him with concern, "Obito-sensei, are you all right? "

Obito sighed. He looked haggard, but still managed to smile at his student. "I'm fine. It's... nothing new, " he looked up at the sky. "What's the time?"

"Ten minutes left and then it's Naruto's turn to watch the night," Sakura answered, covering her mouth and yawning a little. "He's the last one. "

"I'll do it, and you go to sleep now." Obito rubbed her hair.

"Ah? But sensei, you were the first one on duty last night..."

"You three just had a fight during the day, so you should have a good rest. Especially Naruto, because he used the Shadow Clone Jutsu, and consumed more chakra than you and Sasuke." Obito said, patting on his own chest as a gesture of strength and reliability. "I'm an adult, so it doesn't matter if I sleep less. Just do as I say, ok? "

Sakura chuckled and nodded. She stood up, creeping toward her sleeping bag.

Obito came to the campfire, picked up a branch from the ground and poked the fire. Staring at the dancing flame, his thoughts wandered to what had happened in the daytime.

After having been running errands like walking dogs, weeding grass and catching kittens for a week, Naruto ran out of patience and started protesting. Unable to persuade him, Obito had no choice but to come to Sandaime and ask the Hokage to assign a C-rank mission to Team Seven. Their destination was the Nation of Wave, and the mission was to escort Tazuna, a master bridge builder, back home safely, and protect him until his bridge was completed.

It was supposed to be an easy mission, but they were soon attacked on the first day after leaving the village. The attackers were Demon Brothers, missing-nin from Kiri. Although as jonin Obito took the duo down without any difficulty, as there were shinobi after the client, the mission had become more than a C-rank one.

Obito fell into a dilemma after extracting the truth from Tazuna's mouth. For his students' safety, he tended to abandon the mission and return to Konoha- it's not their fault since the client had lied about the mission's difficulty level in the first place. Sakura was all for it, but Sasuke this time unusually stood together with Naruto and insisted that they should continue the mission.

Obviously, although his younger cousin didn't complain about anything, he was also tired of doing chores all over the village.

At the instigation of Naruto and Sasuke (basically Naruto), together with Tazuna's begging, the black-haired jonin who was always soft-hearted finally made concessions and decided to continue the mission. Tomorrow by noon, they would arrive at the border and take a boat to the Nation of Wave. Tazuna said he had contacted the boatman, but Obito was still somewhat worried.

Was his decision right or wrong?

Obito couldn't help but think of Kakashi. If Kakashi was in his shoes, he could definitely make the wisest choice.

After the Third Shinobi War, Minato soon became Hokage, and basically quitted fighting at the front, but the post-war Team Minato still worked together. Kakashi was no doubt the brain of the team, responsible for analyzing the situation and setting plans. After the battle at Kannabi Bridge, the young genius had grown into a truly qualified jonin at an amazing speed, and performed his duty perfectly on every mission.

In retrospect, Obito felt that it was the happiest time of Team Minato. Until-

The night when Kushina gave birth to Naruto, Kyuubi seized the opportunity to break the seal, and took bloody revenge on Konoha. In the end, Minato and Kushina sacrificed themselves for the village, and Naruto became the new jinchuuriki.

The happiness fell apart. Reflected in the pair of awakened Mangekyo Sharingan was the color of blood, and the cold, motionless bodies of their sensei and his wife.

Shortly after Minato's death, Kakashi was secretly invited by Danzo to join Root, but stopped by Sandaime. As the result of negotiations, Kakashi became a member of ANBU instead, and Team Minato was therefore disbanded.

Only then did Obito know what had happened. Kakashi's decision of handling everything on his own certainly enraged him, but he could do nothing to change the outcome. They had a blazing row, and even a fight. After then their life gradually went back to normal, until one year later, right before Kakashi's fifteen-year-old birthday, he went on a S-rank mission, but henceforth became a missing-nin and never came back to Konoha.

Until now Obito still knew nothing about the reason why Kakashi betrayed Konoha, and what exactly happened during his last mission. He had tried to do some investigation, but confidential documents of ANBU were not open to someone like him that didn't belong to the system. For several times, he even planed to go the whole hog and violate the secrets act, or just leave Konoha to seek Kakashi until he found the other man, despite doing so would make himself a missing-nin as well.

But he didn't.

He couldn't. He was no longer the reckless, hot-headed child he used to be. He had grown up, been mature, learned to be cautious, responsible, and patient.

He couldn't leave Naruto and Sasuke, because he was the only one that the kids could rely on. And he couldn't leave Rin. Now there were only two of them left as Team Minato, so if he left, Rin would be alone. He also wanted to stay in Konoha and deeply put down roots here, so that when Kakashi came back one day, Obito could become his shelter, and protect him from rumors and slanders from the outside world.

Obito would become the one that Kakashi could come back to.

"O-san, I want more ramen..." 

Naruto's balderdash brought Obito's thought back to the present. He looked up and saw the blond turned over and kicked the blanket to one side, exposing his belly.

Obito's eye softened. He walked quietly to Naruto and gently covered the boy with the blanket.

Just focus on the mission at hand now.

* * *

The following morning at the northern port of the Nation of Wave.

Sitting outside a small teahouse near the sea, Kakashi looked at the huge ships lay at anchor by the dock, and sailors who were busy unloading. Gatō's logo can be seen both on the ships and on the backs of the sailors' uniforms.

Last night, he had escorted Gatō to the Nation of Wave safely along with Zabuza and Haku. Gatō was of course reluctant to let Kakashi go so easily, but when the silver-haired missing-nin gathered some lightning on his fingertip, and poked a hole in the metal plate, the unscrupulous businessman soon changed his attitude, prepared a boat for him to go north, and stated that he would very much like to have a chance to cooperate with Kakashi again one day.

Kakashi didn't care whether Gatō was as hospitable at heart as he seemed. He didn't care whether Gatō would play tricks on the boat, either. If even some civilian could successfully plot against him, Hatake Kakashi would have been six feet under since long ago.

He shifted his eye from the large, shiny wharf to the shabby, low houses in the distance. Just one night and he had seen the tragic situation of the people here: the economy and traffic of the whole island was firmly controlled by Gatō, so they had no choice but endure his exploitation. Only Tazuna, the old man who insisted on building a bridge between the Nation of Wave and the mainland, and had become a thorn in Gatō's flesh and the target of assassination, was the only courage and hope left in this country.

But Kakashi didn't do or say nothing. He just decided to leave the country and all these things behind.

He never thought he was a good man. Shinobi were never good men. They were tools, pawns, mercenaries, accomplices and beneficiaries of wars. Shinobi were not needed in peacetime. They longed for peace and light, but they also deeply understood that only blood and darkness would accompany a ninja's life.

It was the contradiction and struggle that every shinobi must face since they set foot on this path. The shadow could never be removed from their hearts, and Kakashi was no exception. He hated it, but he also had to accept it, obey it, and follow it.

He couldn't save the people from the Nation of Wave. He was just trash who couldn't even save himself.

But there might still be _some exception_...

Kakashi looked down at the red bean cake in his hand. He didn't like sweets, but when he saw the menu hanging on the wall of the teahouse, he somehow asked for one.

He thought of Obito. When they lived together, the black-haired boy always complained that their home was so far away from Amaguriama that it was inconvenient for him to buy sweets. Then Obito dragged him all the way around Konoha until they went back home with various kitchenware. That night Obito was eager to have a try, but as a result he almost burnt the old wooden house to ashes, if not for Kakashi's Water Release Technique.

A messy Obito stood in the middle of the messy kitchen, wiping his face with dirty hands, sobbing while still arguing that it was the smoke which made him have tears. The scene was ridiculous, but miraculously calmed Kakashi's anger.

The Hatake stared at the cake in his hand. Then he pulled down his mask and took a bite.

It's too sweet. No wonder Obito always said that what Kakashi made was tasteless (although he ate them all). Hadn't him ever been worried about his teeth?

Now he had left Konoha, would Obito have to go to Amaguriama again? Or had that Uchiha, who was born to play with fire, finally learned how to use fire carefully and could make his own sweets without burning down the kitchen?

Or... maybe Obito had moved out from the Hatake's, so he no longer had to walk a long way to buy sweets, or burn their kitchen again.

After all, Kakashi was a missing-nin now. Obito should make a clean break with him.

The chewing stopped. The red bean cake, which had been sweet and soft in his mouth, seemed suddenly turning into sand that mixed with tiny glass fragments, which almost cut his mouth and tongue and made him bleed.

But Kakashi still managed to swallow it. He allowed the sharp sting to run down his throat and esophagus, all the way down to every nerve in his body.

He put the rest of the cake back onto the plate and reached out for the teacup. However, before his fingertips could touch the cup-

_Crack!_

The new, solid teacup suddenly broke in two from the middle.

* * *

Team Seven and Tazuna arrived at the border of the Nation of Fire. The boatman had been waiting at the dock, and they set out on the boat after brief greetings.

After entering the western waters of the Nation of Wave, the boatman became obviously nervous. He turned off the motor and rowed with a bamboo pole instead, while keeping looking around with alert.

"I'd never come to pick you up if it not for today's fog," he emphasized again and again.

That's true. As they went further, the surrounding fog also became heavier. Obito soon found that his vision had been reduced to within 50 meters if he didn't activate his Sharingan.

After a while, a huge and spectacular outline loomed up ahead of them in the fog. It was the bridge that still under construction. 

"Wow! What a umm-" Naruto widened his eyes and shouted. Before he could finish his words, Sakura had pounced upon him and covered his mouth. 

"You idiot! Didn't Kaji-san told us to keep quiet?!" She murmured in annoyance. Naruto nodded and repeatedly gestured that he would shut his mouth tightly.

"Wait, Obito," Sasuke, who had been staring at the distance, suddenly turned around and looked at his sensei. The black-haired boy was frowning, and his eyes showed nervousness that was not well concealed. "Don't you think the fog is... a little _too heavy_? "

_Damn!_

Obito's heart sank. Indeed, the fog was very heavy now, and slowly gathering towards them as if it was alive. His vision had gradually dropped to less than 15 meters.

"Watch out!" His right eye turning red, Obito stood up and growled. "Prepare for the attack-"

But his warning was already a little late.

Dozens of meters away, the Demon of the Hidden Mist was hiding in the heavy fog, standing on the water. His eyes was closed, hands maintained on the last hand sign.

"Now you notice it..." The corner of Zabuza's lips under the bandages curled up coldly. "But it's too late. Here would be where you all die-"

_"-Water Style: Giant Waterfall Jutsu!"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may know, people believe something bad may happen if the teacup cracks on its own in Japanese culture.  
> Next chapter: Obito vs Zabuza and Kakashi met Team Seven.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	4. He Was in the Nation of Wave

Kakashi was running in the woods. He was light and steady on his feet, and didn't make a sound when stepping on the branches, or even caused the branches to shake violently. He looked calm, staring straight ahead, but deep inside he was far less relaxed than he showed.

Just because of a cracked teacup, he'd given up his schedule and was about to interfere in a fight that he shouldn't get involved in while taking unknown risks. This was ridiculous, but Kakashi couldn't ignore the growing uneasiness in his heart. He didn't even know who was the cause of this uneasiness, Zabuza and Haku, or those Konoha ninja who would soon encounter the duo?

Kakashi's reason told him that he shouldn't come back. As one of the famous Kirigakure's Seven Ninja Swordsmen, a master of silent killing, Zabuza had his own pride. Kakashi had withdrawn from this mission, so if now he went hastily to help, instead of being appreciated by the Demon of the Hidden Mist, it would be more likely that the other man would get angry at him. And Konoha's ninja... they were who he'd been trying to avoid in more than one decade as a missing-nin.

But at the same moment, his intuition told him that if he didn't get to the battlefield this time, he would regret for the rest of his life.

Kakashi chose to trust his intuition. It was his closest comrade, and had saved him from danger at numerous situations. He only hoped this time his intuition was still trustworthy.

The tomoes whirled slowly before the left eye was closed again. Gathering chakra in his legs, the silver-haired missing-nin sped up once more.

His destination was the western port, where Zabuza and Haku were waiting Tazuna to show up.

* * *

Sensing massive chakra being gathered before bursting out, Obito's heart sank to the bottom of his stomach. 

They were ambushed- in the middle of the voyage, at least a hundred meters from the nearest land. A worst environment for battles.

The quiet water suddenly became violent. Huge waves rose and overwhelmed their boat.

"Hold on! Don't-" Obito's shouting was drowned in the roar of the waves. The boat was smashed in an instant. They all fell into the water, and were separated from each other by the raging torrent before balancing themselves.

Everything happened all of a sudden, and Obito only had time to grab Tazuna and the boatman who were nearest to him. Watching his three students struggling in the water, and soon out of his sight, he was extremely anxious but for the moment too busy to even create a shadow clone to rescue them.

Stabilizing himself on the water, Obito tried hard to balance himself in the turbulent current, while still grasping Tazuna and the boatman firmly in his hands. The effect of Water Release Technique was gradually subsiding; in the noise of roaring waves, Obito keenly caught the sound of something whizzing towards the back of his head. Without thinking, he loosened his grip on the boatman, turned back and slapped on the water.

" _Uchiha Flame Formation!_ "

_Bang!_

The flame barrier lasted only for two seconds on the water before melting like snow under the sun, but it'd successfully played its part. The Executioner's Blade, which was blocked and bounced off, spun back into the fog and returned to its owner's hand.

As soon as the barrier rose, Obito caught the boatman's collar again. He knew very well that he couldn't fight the enemy while having to protect two civilians at the same time. 

"You two, listen," he kept his voice down and spoke fast. "I'm going to send you to a safe place. Just stay there and don't wander around."

Without waiting for Tazuna and the boatman to reply, the black-haired jonin activated his Sharingan, three tomoes turning into the shape of a pinwheel.

_Kamui!_

The space was twisted, and two men were teleported to the other dimension through the spiral rift.

The client was safe now, but Obito was still worried about his students. He's only glad that he and Rin had taught the three kids how to walk on water before, so at least they wouldn't be drowned here.

 _Next.._. Obito crossed his fingers and shouted, " _Shadow Clone Jutsu!_ "

" _Water Clone Jutsu!_ "

As if having read Obito's mind, his enemy performed a similar ninjutsu simultaneously. Obito gritted his teeth as he heard the sound of someone running away; the clone was obviously after his own one.

"Come out!" He yelled. "Momochi Zabuza! I know it's you!"

"Oh? I feel flattered that you know my name," the other man's voice came from here and there in the fog. It seemed that he didn't want Obito to tell his position. "That eye... So you're Uchiha Obito, the man who gave your Sharingan to Kakashi. It's good to fight together with the eye, but not that interesting when against it."

"...You know Kakashi? " Hearing that name, Obito couldn't help but be stunned, and his attention being attracted.

Zabuza laughed in a low voice. "It's more than I know him... I bade him farewell just last night. Now he... well, I guess he hasn't left the country yet."

Obito held his breath as he heard Zabuza's reply.

_Kakashi... is now in the Nation of Wave?_

His heart immediately beat faster at this thought, almost jumped out of his throat. If not for his responsibility as a shinobi and sensei, Obito would have left everything here behind and hurried to look for the Hatake.

They were finally standing on the same land again. Such a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had never existed before, and might not appear again in the future.

After being identified as a missing-nin, for five years, the silver-haired ex-ANBU vanished from the scene, and no one had ever heard of him since then. It was not until six years ago when Hatake Kakashi suddenly reappeared in the shinobi world, and became famous again for the white tanto and his Sharingan. Konoha had lost no time in organizing a team to capture him, and Obito was certainly the captain of the team. Disappointingly, after continuously searching for three months, they got nothing.

The only thing that could be confirmed was that if none of the Hyuga clan's Byakugan, the Aburame clan's bugs, and the Inuzuka clan's sense of smell could trace the slightest movements of Kakashi, he must had become terrifyingly good at scouting and anti-scouting.

Based on such a premise, being known of his presence by Kakashi would be basically tantamount to losing the chance to find the man. Obito wasn't sure why Kakashi had decided to leave the Nation of Wave right at this time, to avoid him or any Konoha shinobi who were on mission, but as long as there was a glimmer of opportunity, he would do nothing but try to find him.

Lips pressed into a cold, thin line, Obito reached out to his pouch and took out a pair of black gloves. His scarred face looked more grim in a resolute look.

"Where's Kakashi?" He asked in a hoarse, commanding voice. "Tell me."

"Ha... Do you have time to care about him now? Let's focus on our fight first," Zabuza apparently wouldn't be scared easily by his words. "You seemed to have protected the old man with your dojustu... So I must defeat you before achieving my goal, Uchiha Obito."

With a light rustle, Obito pulled the edge of his black glove, and clenched his fist tightly.

"That's exactly what I'd like to say." The three tomoes were whirling dangerously, faster and faster. The killing intent could be clearly heard from Obito's tone. "Once I step on your head, you'll have no choice but spit it out!"

* * *

Sakura was running hard on the water. She clenched a kunai tightly in her right hand, and kept waving it to block the attacks coming in every direction. She also held several shuriken between the fingers of her left hand and occasionally threw them out. They would collide right with the senbon flying towards her before both weapons falling into the water.

In spite of all her efforts, she was still injured. Several senbon had stabbed into her arm and back, and every movement would bring a sharp pain. But Sakura didn't slow down; she knew she couldn't, because once she stopped, she would face a much worse situation.

Being a medical-nin who played the supporting role in a team, all she could do now was to find her teammates as soon as possible.

"It seems that your sensei cares about his students very much," the owner of senbon spoke in the heavy fog. It's a teenager's voice, and Sakura believed that he couldn't be more than eighteen years old. "So... what would he do if I take his student as a hostage in exchange for the target? "

"It's so mean!" Sakura screamed angrily. "Don't you feel ashamed for doing so? "

"Shinobi are tools," the other teenager replied calmly. "Any feelings including conscience and shame are not necessary during missions. For the same reason, one should be ready to sacrifice when becoming an obstacle to the success of the mission himself. If I were you, I'd have ended my own life without hesitation. Your reaction only showed your lack of awareness as a ninja."

Hearing his words, Sakura uncontrollably felt a chill in her heart. How could this boy, who was not much older than her, say such cruel words so easily?

"Sorry, but I don't have time to waste any more," the attacker spoke again, this time in a more aggressive tone. "I'll take you down now!"

A large ice mirror rose and stood a few meters away in front of Sakura. Haku with a mask on his face appeared in the mirror. He threw several senbon at Sakura's legs and feet, obviously aiming to make her lose mobility.

Both his appearance and attack was too fast for Sakura to react. She could only stand there, watching those senbon flashing with cold light flying towards her, and were about to stab into her legs-

_Clank! Clank!_

Just then, a figure in Konoha uniform suddenly appeared and interposed himself between Sakura and the mirror. Waving kunai in both of his hands, he blocked all senbon successfully with quick and accurate movements. 

The intervention of a third party caught both Haku and Sakura off guard. The man seized the opportunity to turn and grab Sakura before performing the Body Flicker Jutsu.

A gust of wind swept by and temporarily blew away the surrounding fog. When the wind stopped, there was only Haku left on the water.

Under the mask, the teenager's expression was a mixture of hesitation and disbelief.

"He can _see_ my attack, which means he's..."

* * *

The strange savior put down Sakura gently. He loosened her arm after confirming that she was able to stand on her own.

Although the fog here was still heavy, it's a lot weaker than where they had encountered Haku, which might indicate that they had been out of the scope of the Hidden Mist Jutsu. But Sakura didn't relax a bit; as soon as she regained freedom, she jumped back a few steps, looking at the stranger with vigilance.

He was an ordinary-looking man with brown hair and black eyes, the type that couldn't be easily recognized in the crowd. He did look like a fellow shinobi in his uniform, but it could prove nothing- anyone could disguise himself as a Konoha ninja by performing a simple Transformation Jutsu.

Sakura didn't think she could meet other Konoha ninja so coincidentally in such a small country. It would be more likely that the man was an accomplice of the teenager, and he's trying to worm his way into her confidence by doing so. Once she put her guard down...

"Thank you for saving me, but..." she stared at the stranger, not daring to let go of his slightest movements. "Who are you? Why are you here? "

"I can tell you that I'm not your enemy, and I have no intention of cheating you," the stranger raised his hands to show that he was entirely without malice. "Besides that I won't say anything more."

His tone was mild, sincere but resolute. Sakura knew it would be just a waste of time to ask the same questions repeatedly, as she wouldn't get any different answers. Her primary goal now was still to join Naruto and Sasuke, and then go to find Obito-sensei with them. But before that, she had to give herself a brief treatment.

Biting her lower lip, she grabbed a senbon stabbed in her arm and pulled it out.

The stranger silently came up behind her. Sakura tensed in an instant, but she didn't avoid him, and instead let the man pull a few senbon out of her back. She performed the Mystical Palm Technique, moving her hand close to the wound on her arm.

The stranger widened his eyes with mild surprise.

The bleeding was soon stopped, but there's still a risk of infection, and Sakura didn't know if she was poisoned by something on the senbon. She thought for a moment before reached out to her pouch and took out the medical pack that Rin had prepared for her.

_Slap!_

A hand suddenly grasped her wrist. Sakura turned her head in horror, but the expression on the stranger's face puzzled her. She had never seen such a complicated look- shocked, nostalgic, joyful and bitter.

However, the next moment, all these emotions were completely wiped away from his face.

"This," he fixed his eyes at Sakura, as if to see whether she dared to lie to him. "Is it from someone called Nohara Rin? She... is she your sensei? "

"Huh? Er... Yes." the piercing gaze sent shivers down Sakura's spine, and made her tell the truth involuntarily.

The fingers around her wrist clenched. Until hearing her gasping in pain, the stranger finally regained his composure and loosened his hand, leaving a few marks of fingers on where he had been gripping.

"Take me to your sensei," when Sakura was wondering if she'd said something that she shouldn't have, she heard the stranger spoke again in a determined tone. " _She_ 's in danger."

_...She?_

Sakura looked up at the man blankly. The bewilderment on her face seemed to annoy the stranger; he narrowed his eyes dangerously and made a hand sign.

_Poof!_

The smoke soon dissipated, and stood there was the silver-haired missing-nin who had most of his face covered under the mask.

"Do what I say," he said, looking down threateningly at the girl with his mismatched eyes, obviously already running out of patience. "Or I make you obedient. Which do you prefer? "

* * *

Sakura was gaping at the man in front of her.

Silver hair, mask, implanted Sharingan. She recognized hm.

The third student of Yondaime, teammate of Uchiha Obito and Nohara Rin, the missing-nin who had left Konoha eleven years ago. 

Hatake Kakashi.

Although Sakura had never met the man before, she was no stranger to him. The photos of Team Minato were still on Obito's and Rin's desks; all her teammates were now live in his house; and her two sensei regularly paid visits to his father's cemetery. Obito and Rin had never say anything about him in front of their students, but with her sensitivity as a kunoichi, Sakura was sure that they had never forgotten him, and still hoped one day they could bring him back to Konoha.

And the other thing she just realized was that Kakashi had mistaken Rin as Team Seven's sensei. This's not his fault, of course, because there's no way that he could know both his teammates had become Sakura's sensei.

More importantly, judging from Kakashi's reaction, he apparently still cared about his teammates. Obito-sensei was strong and there's no need to worry too much about his safety, but Rin-sensei was different. Knowing that she might be in danger, Kakashi's first decision was to go to rescue her- even if on other occasions, the last thing he wanted to do would be to meet his old acquaintances.

Sakura couldn't help but feel happy for her two sensei.

 _Take advantage of it and lead Kakashi to Obito-sensei!_ She quickly made up her mind, lowering her head to avoid the gaze of the silver-haired man. It looked like she didn't dare to make eye contact with him, but in fact Sakura was just afraid that her expression would give her away. "I... I'll take you to sensei now!" She answered in a slightly trembling voice, turning and running into the heavy fog.

Usually, with Kakashi's keen observation, it's impossible for him to confuse excitement with fear, but the concern about Rin's safety had occupied his mind. Although he didn't know if Rin had learned to protect herself better in the past eleven years, it's still very hard for her to escape unscathed when facing Zabuza and his brutality.

His intuition was right. He would never forgive himself if he later learned that Rin was wounded when she was so close to him that he could have prevented it.

They plunged into the thick fog. Sakura soon stopped as she realized there was a serious problem- she didn't know where to find Obito.

Kakashi could clearly see the girl's embarrassment. He didn't say anything but took out a kunai. He was about to cut his thumb and perform the Summoning Jutsu, summoning his ninken to look for Rin, when the two shinobi suddenly heard some people were running in their direction. 

Kakashi was immediately on alert. He stepped forward in front of Sakura, changing Kunai to his left hand, right hand reaching out for his tanto. Lowering his body slightly, he was ready to launch an attack.

However, who came out of the fog were not enemies, but two boys of the same age as the girl behind him. One had black hair and eyes that looked very much like an Uchiha, and the other... 

"Sasuke-kun! Naruto!" Sakura exclaimed excitedly, waving her arms to her teammates. "You also-"

She suddenly realized that Kakashi's body was shaking slightly. A soft murmur floated into her ears-

" _...Sensei._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: An unexpected reunion with an unexpected ending.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	5. Reunion

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I‘m back! Sorry I was busy and had to pause the story. >_<  
> Anyway, the new chapter is here and hope you enjoy!

Being a missing-nin certainly did not only mean freedom.

Shinobi contributed their power to the villages, and even sacrificed their lives when necessary. In return, villages provided them with backup and shelter, and took care of their families when they went out or passed away. This was the exchange of obligations and rights, but missing-nin were not in the system; they didn't need to obey anyone's order, but at the same time earned precarious lives accompanied by danger.

-Especially when your photo was on the Bingo Book of every village, a high bounty was put on your head in the black market, the number of your enemies increased as your name spread, and your left eye was a coveted Sharingan.

For countless times when his life was on the line, Kakashi always thought he should go and apologize to two men after he went to the Pure Land. One was his father, Hatake Sakumo, for he had been so ignorant back then; the other was his sensei, Namikaze Mimato, the Yondaime Hokage.

Kakashi wasn't sure if Minato knew the _truth_ , but after his father's death, it's indeed the blond who had dragged him out of the mire of despair, taken care of him, and guided him to regain the motivation to live on.

Minato was willing to sacrifice his life to protect his beloved village, yet one of his students became a missing-nin after his death. No doubt it would be an indelible stain on the brilliant records of Konoha's Fourth Hokage. Every time Kakashi thought about it, it was always like a lump in his throat and made him feel guilty.

When catching his first glimpse of the blond boy, Kakashi had recognized him- Uzumaki Naruto, Minato and Kushina's son, the new Kyuubi jinchuuriki.

The little baby crying besides his parents' corpses twelve years ago had grown up. It seemed that he was doing fine, as Obito and Rin couldn't let others bully him. The thought made Kakash feel a bit relieved, but he was soon swallowed up by greater shame.

Minato and Kushina had taken care of him after Sakumo committed suicide, however, he failed to do much for Naruto after the boy became an orphan. 

Kakashi stared at Naruto. The sudden meet with Minato's son shocked him so much that for a moment he even forgot to rescue Rin, or noticed that someone was silently observing him at the same time.

Sasuke looked narrowly at the familiar stranger in front of him. Although the left eye was closed, he had still recognized the shinobi- Hatake Kakashi, the man who had Obito's Sharingan.

A missing-nin just like Uchiha Itachi.

Sasuke knew all along that Obito had extraordinary determination when it came to his ex-teammate, and was always thinking about bringing Kakashi back to Konoha. Sasuke had never shown his disapproval for it to Obito, but in his opinion, one who was identified as missing-nin must have committed some unforgivable crime. It would be meaningless to retrieve such a man.

Just like his brother.

"Sakura," the dark-haired Uchiha broke the silence, quietly reached out to his pouch and hooked his finger into the ring of a kunai. "How did you meet him?"

"Oh!" Sakura was still wondering about Kakashi's strange reaction. Hearing the question, she immediately turned to Sasuke and replied, "he- he saved me from the enemy! We're now going to- to look for _Rin-sensei_ and help her! "

Standing behind Kakashi, she winked at her teammates while speaking, signaling them to not to expose her lies.

Sasuke raised his eyebrow slightly. He already knew what Sakura's plan was; although he didn't think it's meaningful to lead Kakashi to Obito, since his cousin was so obsessed with the silver-haired man, he didn't mind to do the elder Uchiha a favor. 

He was about to say something to echo hers, when Naruto spoke with a confused expression. "Rin-sensei? But she's- Ouch!"

"No time to waste, you idiot," Sasuke took back his feet as if nothing had happened before secretly throwing Naruto a threatening look, hinting him to shut up. "Hurry back to the bridge. The client and our sensei must be-"

Before he could finish his words, they all heard someone running in the fog, approaching them rapidly.

The four shinobi were on alert at once. Kakashi, who was looking at the two teenagers with suspicion, immediately stepped forward to stand in front of Team Seven, kunai in his hand.

The sound of running on the water became louder. Suddenly, a familiar figure rushed out of the fog, and then-

The footsteps stopped. Obito and Kakashi, both froze with eyes widened, stared at each other.

It's like time paused in this moment.

* * *

Obito had imagined countless times what Kakashi would look like when he grew up.

He should be finally taller than Rin, but still slightly shorter than Obito. He might still be slim as he was in the childhood, since he had been living alone with no backup from the village, and was never good at taking care of himself. The messy silver hair, the mask covering the lower half of his face, the eye and the scar- the scar for Obito, the left eye from Obito.

Obito had also imagined how he and Kakashi would meet again. Maybe it was when he and his search team finally succeeded in forcing Kakashi to appear in front of him; or when Kakashi was being hunted by someone, while Obito happened to pass by and helped him get rid of the trouble. Or maybe the role of them reversed- anyway, it's nothing new for them to save each other.

But the current situation was even beyond Obito's imagination. Kakashi was with his students, and it looked like that the man was protecting them. While he... he was just a shadow clone, not the original who was now fighting Zabuza somewhere nearyby. 

Obito knew he should immediately disperse himself to inform the original of Kakashi's presence. However, he couldn't help but fix his eyes on the silver-haired man, unwilling to look away for a single moment. He had crossed his fingers, but his hands were trembling too hard to actually make the hand sign.

Even if he was only a shadow clone, he still missed Kakashi as much as the original did.

Step by step, Obito walked towards Kakashi. He kept his move cautious, as if he was afraid that the man in front of him was just a mirage, and would fall apart in front of his eyes at any time.

The sound of Obito's footsteps awakened Kakashi from his astonishment. Kunai slipped out of his grasp and sank into the water. He raised his right hand slightly, but soon hesitated and stopped.

Instead of escaping, the missing-nin just stood there. Seeing Obito approaching, he only closed his eyes as if he was resigned.

The distance between them was finally reduced to an arm's length. Gazing at Kakashi, Obito opened his mouth, but failed to say anything.

It's strange that there was so much he wanted to tell Kakashi when they were parted, yet he couldn't utter a word when they actually met. Obito felt his brain was a total blank, and he seemed to temporarliy lose the ability to speak. Finally, he could only mumble the name that he had kept in his heart for many years, but had no chance to say it aloud-

" _Kakashi..._ "

Cautiously reaching out, Obito wanted to caress Kakashi's cheek with his own fingers, to feel his skin and temperature, and confirm that he was real.

But Kakashi suddenly opened his eye- the crimson Sharingan.

And Obito saw the cold determination shining in _his_ left eye.

The dazzling blue-white light sparkled between the two man. The hand, entangled by lightning, thrust into its target in the blink of an eye, as the sound of chirping birds abruptly came to a halt.

Obito's movement stopped before he could touch Kakashi's face. With disbelief, he slowly lowered his head, looking down at the hand pierced through his chest. 

Kakashi's hand.

"Obito-sensei!!" Behind them, Sakura burst out screaming.

“...Obito-nii!! " Naruto roared, a dangerous red gleaming in his blue eyes. He clenched his fist and rushed towards Kakashi, "you bastard, how dare you- Ugh!"

Before he could finished his words, Kakashi had pulled his hand out of Obito's body. He turned around and kicked Naruto heavily in the stomach, sending the blond flying backwards. The boy groaned in pain and rolled on the water before he finally stopped.

"Wait!" Seeing Naruto was about to launch another attack as soon as he got to his feet, Sasuke stepped forward hastily, cutting in between Naruto and Kakashi. "Calm down, you idiot... Look at Obito!"

His teammates followed his words. Surprisingly, Obito was not bleeding; at the moment they cast their eyes at him, the Uchiha suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sha- shadow clone?" Sakura asked, still in shock.

No one replied, but the answer was obvious.

The red in Naruto's eyes dissipated. He showed a relieved expression. "Great," he let out a long breath, wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "Fortunately it's a shadow clone..."

"Hm... You seem to relax too early," another low voice followed. The man who came out of the thick mist covered half of his face in bandages, and carried a huge blade on his back- none other than Momochi Zabuza.

The three kids of Team Seven gathered together in no time. Pulling out their shuriken and kunai, they watched the newcomer with vigilant eyes.

"You're so nosy, Kakashi," Zabuza's glance swept over the three before he turned his eyes to the silver-haired man. "Who said he's not interested in the mission? And why you're here now? "

"I just changed my mind," Kakashi replied in an indifferent tone, still staring at where Obito's shadow clone had disappeared.

Sakura's heart sank at their conversation. The missing-nin from Kiri was obviously the one who ambushed them when they were on the boat, and Kakashi seemed to be his acquaintance. So his previous words must also be a lie; he probably just pretended to worry about Rin's safety, but in fact what he planned to do was to help this man and put his former teammate- the one who had never abandoned him- to death.

 _Fortunately the leader of Team Seven is Obito-sensei, and that was just a shadow clone..._ The more Sakura thought about it, the more she felt a panic fear. The anger of being deceived surged up within her chest, and she couldn't help but clench her fists and yell at Kakashi. "Why you hate Konoha so much? That you can even disregard the friendship with your former teammates! "

"That's exactly what I want to ask!" Naruto echoed. "Obito-nii was your teammate, wasn't he? But you decided to kill him! If I were you, I would never hurt my friends in any case! "

"Save your words," Sasuke said coldly. "Do you think it's still meaningful to say these to a traitor now?"

Kakashi just kept silent.

"Naive brats," Zabuza sneered. "Don't think the world is bright and beautiful, and your village is nice and innocent. People become missing-nin for various reasons... Well, forget about it."

He raised his hand to grab the handle of the Executioner's Blade. "As the black-haired brat said, we no longer belong to the same world, and you'll never understand us no matter how much we explain to you. Just let me catch you all and make a deal with your sensei!"

The three kids immediately tensed and turned to him. 

Kakashi remained where he was, as if it's none of his business. However his right hand, which he hid from others, was clenched into a fist, small lightning dancing on it.

"Some green genin recently graduated from the academy," Zabuza snorted and lifted his blade. The man was just about to attack when he suddenly froze, eyes widened with surprise and annoyance.

"Uchiha... Obito," he growled through gritted teeth. "That asshole...!"

_Splash!_

With the curse, Zabuza's body scattered into countless drops that fell into the water.

Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura were all stunned at this unexpected scene.

"Relax," Kakashi's voice drew them back to reality. "It's a water clone. Zabuza is no longer here."

The lightning on his hand silently dissipated.

The three genin simultaneously turned their heads and stared at him, as if they just realized that he was still here. Their faces became nervous as soon as they remembered that he was also an enemy.

"Don't worry," Kakashi said. "Unlike Zabuza, I've no reason to kill Tazuna, so naturally it's meaningless for me to fight you."

"As if we'll believe you!" Naruto shouted. "You just attacked Obito-nii's shadow clone, and we all saw it!"

Kakashi looked into the blond's eyes- the eyes that were so similar to Minato-sensei's, glaring at him with hostility and accusation, which made him feel deeply unease.

"I've no obiligation to prove my words," pressing down the bitterness in his heart, Kakashi quietly replied. "And I don't care if you trust me or not."

He raised his hand to make the hand seal, and launched the Body Flicker Jutsu. "Hopefully... we won't meet again. "

Leaving these words, the sliver-haired man vanished in swirling leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Outraged Obito.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	6. He Is the Special One

A few minutes ago.

The kunai and the blade kept colliding with each other, and the spark of collision flew off in all directions with harsh sounds. On the water under the bridge, Zabuza and Obito were in a fierce battle.

The giant blade cut into Obito's torso, but then passed through his body in the next moment. Seeing the attack failed again, Zabuza couldn't help but click his tongue irritatedly.

 _Damn dojutsu..._ The Demon of the Hidden Mist cursed inwardly.

 _Calm down. No ninjutsu is impeccable_ _, and the Sharingan is no exception. There must be some weakness... Take the advantage of the long weapon and keep attacking, carefully observe him, and don't let go of any suspicious details..._

"...!" He was about to launch another attack when Obito suddenly stiffened. The Uchiha widened his eye, as if he saw something incredible.

Good chance!

The Executioner's Blade swept towards Obito's chest. Although the jonin responded in time and activated Kamui, he was still one second late. The blood spurted from the wound, dripped down and tinted the water red. Obito groaned with pain and leaped backwards, distancing himself from Zabuza. Kneeling on the water, he pressed one hand on the bleeding wound, panting heavily, his head lowered.

Zabuza could feel from his weapon that Obito wasn't injured seriously, at least the wound shouldn't evoke such a strong reaction. And the sudden pause of his move... Was the time limit of his dojutsu reached? But it didn't seem to be the case, otherwise Obito shouldn't have looked so shocked just now.

_Or maybe..._

"Ha," Zabuza sneered, putting down his blade. "Seems your shadow clone has disappeared. Let me guess, he can't use that annoying space-time ninjutsu as you do, can he? So it's much easier to take him down than defeating you. "

"An experienced soldier like you were caught off guard... there must have been some unexpected emergency happened to your shadow clone. Did he find your students? Great, my water clone will be glad to bring them to you. Unfortunately, I'm afraid it won't be in a way that you would like-"

" _Shut up,_ " the hoarse, icy voice cut him off.

"Huh?" Zabuza narrowed his eyes.

"I said 'shut up', asshole," Obito yanked his head up and glared at the other man, rage shining in the scarlet eye. Unlike before, the aura around him suddenly changed from warm and bright to cold and dark. The killing intent was so firece that as if it was condensed into something tangible, fired at Zabuza like a sharp arrow.

"You..." Zabuza unconsciously clutched the handle of the Executioner's Blade. Before he could regain the composure, Obito had started his counter-attack.

Making the Tiger's Seal in front of his chest, the Uchiha took a deep breath before spitting out chakra with a roar, " _Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"_

A giant fireball was instantly formed between the two shinobi, rushing towards Zabuza. Its heat wave radiated in all directions, and even evaporated the water near the surface.

"Thought you were going to use some powerful ninjutsu, then just this?" Zabuza sneered and jumped into the mid air. Looking down, he saw the fireball passing where he stood before. It seemed that he had successfully dodged the attack-

_Whoosh, whoosh!_

Several fuma shuriken flew out of the fireball, aimed at him. As if it's not enough, Obito also burst out of the fireball right after his shuriken, rushing straightly towards the missing-nin.

_The fireball was a cover... He just used it to hide himself!_

Zabuza's pupils shrank when he realized the fact. Since he was now still in the mid air and not able to move, he could only wave the Executioner's Blade and try to block the shuriken. However, as there were too many of them, even if he managed to protect the vital parts of his body, he still got some inevitable wounds on his limbs.

When he was suffering from the burning pain around his body, a kunai was suddenly thrown over and stabbed right at a chakra point on his right arm, making him instantly feel the arm numb. Groaning, Zabuza involuntarily loosened his grasp, and the blade slipped out of his hand.  
  
At this moment, he had also reached the peak and started to fall down, while Obito was just in time to approach him and gave him a good hard kick on his abdomen. As Zabuza curled up at the pain, the jonin grabbed him at his shoulder and climbed on his back.

Obito's move was fast, and he had finished the change of position in one second. Upside down, holding Zabuza tightly in his arms, he began spinning and propelled them headfirst towards the water-

_Primary Lotus!_

With a bang, the two shinobi sank into the water in the blink of an eye. The sudden increase of water pressure had no effect on Obito who had opened two of the Eight Gates; drawing Zabuza who lost the strength to resist for the time being, he swam towards the surface of the water.

Breaking through the surface and squatting on it, Obito grabbed Zabuza's hair and lifted the other man out of the water. Bumping their foreheads together, he glared at Zabuza with his Sharingan, tomoes spinning wildly in the eye. "Fuck off and don't put your dirty hand on my students!!"

Receiving the deterrent of dojustu at close range, the flow of Zabuza's chakra became disordered, and his water clone in another place immediately collapsed. However, the information transferred back to original also drew him back to reality. Eyes burning with fury, he started to make hand seals under the water. "You've gone too far, Uchiha Obito... _Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!_ " 

The water began to shake violently. Loosened his grasp at Zabuza, Obito leaped up, just in time to dodge the raging torrent. 

Widening his eye, the Uchiha made hand seals again. What he launched was his unique ninjutsu that was combined with the use of Kamui. " _Fire Style: Blast Wave Wild Dance!_ "

" _Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors!_ "

A third voice suddenly cut in before Obito finished his words. Several large ice mirrors were instantly erected around Zabuza, protecting him like a fortress.

Almost at the same time that all the mirrors were formed, the spiral flame hit them like a whip. Under the power of the fire ninjutsu, the ice mirrors soon began to melt, but they had already earned enough time for the man inside to escape.

After a gust of wind, Zabuza and his mysterious rescuer were no longer nearby. Obito didn't go after them; landing back on the water, he gave a final glance at the ice and fire before turning to run towards where his students were in the shadow clone's memory.

* * *

The silver-haired missing-nin was nowhere to be seen. The three members of Team Seven looked at each other and couldn't believe that the man had let them go so easily.

The most confused one among them was Sakura. When she saw Kakashi trying to kill Obito, she thought that what he had said and done before was just to deceive her, but now she's not so sure about it. What on earth did the Hatake want to do?

"Watch out," Sasuke warned. He was still looking around with alert, bending down slightly in a defensive posture, and his right hand never left the pouch on his leg. "He may just pretend to leave but actually lurk nearby, using us as bait and waiting for Obito to take it. It's very easy for someone like him to completely hide from us. "

"I see!" Sakura agreed. "You're so smart, Sasuke-kun!"

"Fine, I haven't cooled down yet!" Naruto shouted, clenching his fists. "If that bastard dares to hurt Obito-nii again, I'll definitely beat him up!"

"Well, you were the one who's kicked by him before," Sakura shrugged.

"That- that's just because I was not prepared! " Naruto retorted with insufficient confidence. "Wait and see, Sakura-chan, next time I'll-"

Sasuke suddenly raised one hand to stop their quarrel, "someone's coming!"

The three genin tensed as they heard the footsteps approaching. The fog now was no longer as thick as before, and they were able to recognize the man running towards them from dozens of meters away.

It's Obito, and he didn't look like a shadow clone this time.

"Obito-sensei!" Seeing their sensei, Sakura gave a loud cheer, finally set her heart at rest. 

Obito stopped in front of them. He studied the kids for a while before a strange expression appeared on his face; relieved, but at the same time very disappointed.

Then those emotions were all covered up by exhaustion. He took a long breath and sighed, "glad you're all safe."

"Not time to relax yet," Sasuke said. "You've seen what happened to your shadow clone. He's probably still around."

" _He_ 's not," to Sasuke's displeasure, Obito immediately turned his guess down without even thinking about it. "He's gone."

"But-" Sasuke tried to persist, but Obito has made a decisive gesture to cut off what his younger cousin wanted to say- it's rare that he had such a tough attitude.

"Enough," he said with finality. "Come on, we need to continue our mission. The client and the boatman are both in Kamui's dimension. Since the boat has sunk, we have to go to the shore on foot and I'll let them out there."

With these words, he turned towards the direction that he had come from and started walking.

"Wait, Obito-nii, that Ka-" Naruto paused as he felt Sakura was pulling his sleeve. He looked back at his teammate; the pink-haired girl shook her head in disapproval with a worried look.

Obito stopped.

"Please, Naruto," his voice was so quiet that it seemed to dissipate in the wind as soon as he spoke. "Let's just... stop talking about him for now."

* * *

Kakashi didn't stop until he was hundreds of meters away from Team Seven.

He looked down at his trembling right hand. The scar across his left eye was aching dully, and the Sharingan was throbbing under the eyelid. Pressing one hand on the eye, he took a deep breath.

He created Chidori, but the ninjutsu would not have achieved perfection without Obito's Sharingan. Kakashi couldn't, and didn't bother to remember how many times he had used the lightning to destroy others' hearts, but he had never expected that one day he would use it against Obito- even if it wasn't the original.

Back then he saw Obito making the hand seal, and deduced that he was only a shadow clone. Even so, he couldn't be 100% sure until he really saw the shadow clone disappeared under his attack. In case his judgement was wrong... he would have killed Obito _with his own hand_.

Just thinking of it was enough to make his fingers twist uncontrollably. Kakashi couldn't imagine his own reaction if this really happened. He felt that he would never have the same courage to make such a dangerous bet again in his life.

And he couldn't imagine Obito's reaction after the information was transferred back to the Uchiha, either.

It's meaningless to make the imagination anyway. He had long lost the chance to turn back. It would never work out between him and Obito.

The thought emerged in his mind like a seed and quickly thrived. The stinging roots firmly clung to his heart, bringing him a tearing pain with every heartbeat.

Falling to his knees, Kakashi clenched his hands into fists, pressing his forehead against the water. Shoulders shuddering, he started to gasp heavily, as if he were about to suffocate.

He curled up and held this position for a while. Finally, his breath got slowly back to steady, and his body stopped shaking. Konoha's missing-nin raised his head; his wet silver hair hung down and covered the mismatched eyes.

If there was no other choice, he'd rather end it by himself.

* * *

At dust an unexpected visitor who should have left the country visited Gatō's base.

The pawns lined the path to the businessman, staring at him with suspicious or horrified eyes. With a calm and cold expression, Kakashi didn't bother to look at others and walked towards Gatō before standing in front of the black-hearted merchant. He was carrying a sack on his shoulder, and what's inside looked large. 

"I thought you've arrived in the Nation of Iron," Gatō said, nervously clenching the handle of his cane. He sized the missing-nin up with a trace of fear in his eyes.

"I changed my mind in the last minute before departure when I learned that Tazuna's bodyguard from Konoha was an old friend of mine."

"Really?" Gatō looked at him with disbelief. "I heard that although you betrayed Konoha, you've been always deliberately avoiding its men. Then why not this time? "

Kakashi replied quietly, "because _he_ 's the special one."

With this, he threw the sack on the ground between him and Gatō without tenderness.

There was a thud. The bag was not tied, and it opened when hit the ground, revealing the things- or, people- inside.

The long black hair spread out on the ground. It was a young woman, lying there motionlessly, as if in a coma. What's more, she was holding a unconscious child in her arms.

"Zabuza failed," Kakashi's apathetic voice echoed in the hall. "He didn't successfully kill Tazuna under the bridge, so I did the next step for him."

He turned his eyes from the mother and son to Gatō. Meeting the crimson Sharingan in which the tomoes were slowly rotating, Gatō couldn't help but feel a sharp chill running down his spine.

"They're Tazuna's daughter and grandson. To save his only two family members in the world... I believe the old man is willing to sacrifice his own life. "

......

Meanwhile, on the other side.

After several hours of long and silent walking, Tazuna finally brought the four shinobi of Team Seven back to his home. However, what awaited him were not the smiling faces of his daughter and grandson, but-

"...Tsunami! Inari!" Tazuna cried out when he saw the mess in the house. Leaving Konoha ninja behind, he rushed upstairs, desperately calling the names of his beloved ones. "Tsunami!! Inari!! Where are you!"

"Naruto, follow him," Obito jogged his student. The blond boy nodded and ran upstairs, "Jii-san, wait!"

Sasuke and Sakura entered the house after their sensei and teammate. Kunai in hands, they started to carefully observe the surroundings, in case the one who had attacked Tazuna's family was still hiding in the dark.

"Obito!" Sasuke, who went to the kitchen, was the first one to find something unusual. He pulled a kunai from the wall and took down the note nailed to it.

"Was it left by the attacker?" Sakura trotted over and read it aloud. "Let me see... 'To shinobi from Konohagakure, please take Tazuna to the headquarters of Gatō's company in three days in exchange for his daughter and grandson'... What?! "

"Seems they were kidnapped," Sasuke said, passing the note to Obito. The elder Uchiha took it; just one glimpse, he immediately turned pale, his fingers grasping the note tightly.

"What's wrong?" Sasuke raised his eyebrow.

"The handwriting," Obito murmured. He stared at the note as if to burn a hole on it by his eye, " _it's Kakashi's._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Obito has learned how to open the Eight Gates from Gai, although he probably could only open two of them. I mean, why not since he has stayed in Konoha for so many years? :P  
> NEXT CHAPTER: Kakashi's plan. (And the two will meet again!)


	7. Just as I Planned

Kakashi was stopped by Haku outside Zabuza's room.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi-san," the boy in green haori watched him warily. "After what happened yesterday, I'm afraid I can't let you in so easily."

Kakashi raised his eyebrow, "is this Zabuza's order, or your own decision?"

Haku didn't answer, pressing his lips together. He stuck out one arm in front of the door and slowly reached another out for senbon attached on the back of his belt. Kakashi just looked at him quietly, his hands in the pockets. It seemed that he had no intention to attack or defend at all.

"Haku," just at this moment, from the room came the deep voice of the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

Haku froze, "...yes, Zabuza-san." Lowering his eyes, the boy stepped aside and pushed the door open. "Please come in, Kakashi-san."

Kakashi shrugged and entered the room.

Zabuza was sitting there, his bandaged arms on the back of the sofa and legs on the table. Hearing the footsteps, he raised his head, staring at the silver-haired man with a gloomy look. "Are you here to laugh at me, Kakashi?"

"No way," Kakashi calmly denied.

"Now even a Gatō's lackey dares to yell at me," Zabuza said, killing intent shining in his narrowed eyes. " I must thank you and your good teammate for it."

"In that case, I'll give you a compensation," Kakashi pulled a chair and sat down opposite him. Facing the other man's suspicious eyes, Konoha's missing-nin slowly said, "I'm here... to tell you _the secret of Obito's dojutsu_. "

Zabuza's eyes widened.

"...I don't understand," he said after listening to Kakashi's explanation of Kamui and pondering for a while. "Kakashi, what do you want?"

"What do I want?"

"Stop pretending," there was a trace of annoyance in Zabuza's voice. "Don't you think you've kept contradicting yourself? You didn't want to be involved with shinobi from Konoha, so you refuse to assassinate Tazuna, but then you turned back and interfered the mission. You protected Obito's student from Haku, but then launched a lethal ninjutsu against him. You said you aren't interested in attacking civilians, but then shamefully kidnapped the old man's family. You gave a detailed plan, but then refused the high reward that Gatō promised, saying that you only wanted to take this opportunity to settle your personal affair. And now here you are, coming to tell me Obito's weakness and how to defeat him. What the hell are you planning?"

Kakashi kept slient while Zabuza was listing what he had done. He looked down at the open palm of his right hand.

"I just want to end all this," he finally whispered after a long pause. "To find a way to solve everything peacefully."

* * *

The night before going to Gatō's base.

The atmosphere of Tazuna's had been dull for the past two days. The owner of the house locked himself in his bedroom on the second floor, and only came downstairs when Sakura told everyone to have dinner, haggard with red eyes. Another man in a low mood was Team Seven's leader, Uchiha Obito.

Just like how he was now.

The moonlight shimmered on the sea. Obito sat on the platform near the sea with his legs drooping down from the edge, his toes only a few inches above the water. He gazed at the sea, absent-mindedly twiddling an old forehead protector. The one that Kakashi had worn before becoming an ANBU.

"Obito-sensei, are you alright?"

Sakura's hesitant but concerned voice drew Obito back from his thoughts. He looked back and saw his three students had all come behind him.

"I'm fine," not wishing to worry the kids, he replied with a smile, though it looked hopelessly reluctant. "Why don't you go to sleep? We're gonna have a tough battle tomorrow. "

"Obito-nii, I don't get it," Naruto sat down beside him. The blond boy rest his cheek on his hands, pouting and frowning at the headband. "Kakashi doesn't care about you at all. If it wasn't a shadow clone, you'd have been killed by him. Why don't you just let him go and give up taking him back to Konoha? "

Sakura nodded in agreement. Even Sasuke's face showed his approval.

 _These kids are still young, after all._ Such a feeling suddenly rose in Obito's mind. _Maybe you'll understand after you have a similar experience... No, if possible, I hope you'll never have to go through the same thing as we did._

"I gave my Sharingan to Kakashi as a gift to celebrate his promotion to jonin, as you all know," Obito said. Seeing the three nodded, he continued. "But do you know how he had lost his own eye?"

Naruto and Sakura looked at each other, both looked confused.

"He lost it for saving me," Obito gave the answer. "Back then, if he didn't come back, both Rin and I might- no, would definitely- be killed."

"But you also saved his life after that," Sasuke said. "And gave him your left eye. Then you're even. You don't owe him anything."

"There isn't any so-called 'even' when it comes to things like this," Obito shook his head with a wry smile. "And it's fair to say that just because of this left eye, we may never be able to make a clean break with each other in our whole lives."

He looked into the distance, as if lost in the memories of the past. The expression on his face was soft and bitter.

Naruto and Sakura exchanged a look again. "Then, sensei," Sakura asked carefully. "Do you know why Kakashi left the village?"

Her question pierced through Obito's thoughts. The elder Uchiha's face immediately turned bleak.

"No," he replied in a low voice. "The last mission he carried out was classified top secret, and I didn't have the authority to view the file. The only thing I learned was that he killed an ANBU and thus became a missing-nin, but I didn't know the details. "

"Just ask him!" Naruto blurted out. Seeing everyone turning to him, he shrugged. "What, am I wrong? Seriously, Obito-nii, you rarely have a chance to meet Kakashi, so why don't you go straightforward and ask about that mission, then you'll know everything!"

"That's exactly what I've been planning to do until I see him again. But now..." Obito's voice trailed off. He took a deep breath, looking down at the forehead protector.

He felt uncertain.

In Obito's memory, although Kakashi didn't look like the easy-going type at first glance, he was actually very gentle and treasured the ones he cared about. He was also a principled man, and there were some bottom lines that he would never cross.

But the Kakashi he met two days ago seemed to be a completely different person. When facing Obito, he could quickly abandon their old friendship and use Chidori on him without hesitation. He was even mean enough to kidnap civilians as hostages.

What happened to Kakashi in the past eleven years? What has he become now?

"...Sensei?" Sakura's worried voice brought Obito back to present from his thoughts for the third time. He looked at his students, and managed to show a bright smile as usual.

"Naruto is right!" He tried his best to sound confident. "It's not easy to find Kakashi, so I must do something when there is a good chance! Trust me, everything will be perfectly solved tomorrow, the mission or my own affair!"

Seeing that he regained his old self-confidence, both Sakura's and Naruto's faces lit up immediately."Yeah!"

"Hn," Sasuke snorted, but the corner of his lips curled up slightly. "Told you that idiots won't be depressed for long."

"But Sasuke, you were sour-faced all day after you lost to me in sparring last time," tilting his head, Naruto asked the Uchiha boy with an innocent look.

For a moment it seemed that Sasuke would very much like to strangle his annoying teammate. "What about you then," he finally said with sarcasm, shooting daggers at Naruto. "You were frustrated for a full week when you couldn't find your free coupon for Ichiraku Ramen."

"Which just proves your theory wrong... Wait! I'm not an idiot!" Realizing what he had just said, Naruto jump up at his friend. "Sasuke you bastard, you dare to set me up!"

"Dobe you took the bait yourself..."

The two kids soon started to wrestle. Sakura giggled. Obito looked at them fondly, a look of nostalgia in his eye.

Everything would come to an end tomorrow.

* * *

On the next day, Team Seven and their sensei went to Gatō's base according to the map given by Tazuna. A man dressed as a ronin waited at the gate and led them to an used, two-storeyed factory.

The building was totally empty. Its second floor was just four narrow corridors along the walls with iron railings, and now crowded with Gatō's men. The merchant was standing right opposite to the gate, the cane in his hands and a triumphant expression on his face.

On his left side stood Zabuza who was almost fully recovered, and Haku with his mask. On his other side were two tall, strong bodyguards, one of which was grasping Tsunami at her shoulder. The young woman's hands were tied behind her back, and her eyes and mouth were taped. The other man was carrying Inari who was still unconscious.

"Looks like the old man is not with you, Uchiha Obito," looking down at the four shinobi standing in the center of the first floor, Zabuza raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Tazuna-san is now in the Kamui's dimension," Obito replied, pointing at his own eye. "But I'll only let him out on one condition."

"Hmph. Do you think you still have the right to bargain?" Zabuza sneered. "Well, fine. Just say it."

"It's Kakashi's idea to kidnap Tazuna-san's family and force us to come here, isn't it?" Clenching his fists, Obito stepped forward. He scanned the crowd on the off chance of seeing a familiar figure. "Isn't it fair that he should show up as the prime mover? Let him come out to see me!"

"Unfortunately, Kakashi-san has left the Nation of Wave to the Nation of Iron this morning. I saw him got aboard with my own eyes," Gatō said with a hint of malicious pleasure in his voice. "It seems that he decides not to meet you after thinking about it. Anyway, it's none of my business. My target is only old Tazuna, and the grudge between you shinobi has nothing to do with me."

_...Did I miss him again?_

Huge disappointment grew in Obito's heart. Gritting his teeth, he told himself to calm down and focus on the mission. The Uchiha took a deep breath.

"Let's make the deal, then," the black-haired jonin said in a deep voice. He activated Kamui, and the master bridge builder appeared in front of others' eyes. 

"Tsunami! Inari!" As soon as seeing his daughter and grandson, the old man immediately widened his eyes and called out their names in a trembling voice.

"I didn't expect you really brought him here," Zabuza clicked his tongue.

"I respect the client's decision if he insists on exchanging his own life for his family members'," Obito said coldly. "Let alone the mission was based on unilateral dishonesty in the first place. We've done well enough."

"Even from Konoha, you're shinobi after all," Zabuza snickered. "Glad to see you're not that hopelessly naive, at least."

"Save your nonsense," the Uchiha snapped with a wave of his hand. He seemed to be tired of the talk. "Just get this done."

Gatō gestured to his men. The two bodyguards were about to take Tsunami and Inari downstairs, when they were stopped by the missing-nin from Kiri.

"Wait a minute," Zabuza said with his eyes still fixed on the four below. He dragged Tsunami to his side, who just blocked Haku from Obito's sight."The woman first, and I'll give you the brat once we make sure Tazuna is dead. Don't worry, I just do this for money, so it's meaningless to kill more than necessary."

"Alright," Obito reluctantly accepted the proposal after a brief hesitation.

Zabuza narrowed his eyes. He secretly tipped Haku a wink without being noticed by Obito. The teenager nodded back slightly.

Grabbing Tsunami, the Demon of the Hidden Mist jumped down straight from the second floor. Obito also led Tazuna to the front, leaving his students behind. The atomsphere in the buidling became increasingly tense as both sides were cautiously approaching each other. Unconsciously, everyone held their breath, watching closely at them.

"Hold on," Zabuza suddenly stopped when there were several steps between him and Obito. He looked suspiciously at Tazuna, "the old man is not your shadow clone in a Transformation Jutsu, is he?"

Obito pressed his lips into a thin line. Insteading of answering Zabuza, he took out a kunai from his pouch and mutely handed it to Tazuna.

Tazuna took the weapon. Clenching his fist, he gashed his arm on the kunai, and blood instantly flowed from the cut. "...Is that enough? " The old man raised his wounded arm and glared at Zabuza.

"Very well," Zabuza seemed to be amused by Tazuna's action. There was some cold pleasure in his voice. "For the sake of fairness, maybe I should do the same thing?" He said, tilting his head in Tsunami's direction. 

"No! No!" Throwing a nervous glance at the Executioner's Blade, Tazuna quickly shook his head.

"Shall we continue?" Obito asked.

Zabuza snorted and pushed Tsunami forward.

They kept getting closer until there was only an arm's length left. All of a sudden, strong killing intent burst out in Zabuza's eyes as the man reached out for his blade at lightning speed and waved it at Obito and Tazuna, intending to cut them in halves.

What happened in the next moment was both within and beyond Zabuza's expectation.

The movement of "Tazuna" suddenly become very agile. He jumped high in the mid air to dodge the blade, and with a _poof!_ the shinobi showed his true identity. It was Naruto.

"Hehe!" The blond exclaimed. "It's transformation but not a shadow clone _here_ , baka! You're cheated by my acting!"

With this, the other Naruto who was standing behind with Sakura and Sasuke disappeared in another puff of smoke. It turned out that this one was actully the shadow clone.

"A brat like you can even perform the Shadow Clone Jutsu..." Zabuza's pupils shrank slightly.

And Obito has also started his move. He lunged forward, trying to grab Tsunami with both hands and take her from Zabuza. However, the missing-nin's blade was still overlapping his waist, so he couldn't touch the hostage.

"Haku!" Zabuza yelled.

"Yes, sir!" Haku on the second floor replied, raised his arm and pulled hard. The reflection of light in the air revealed the wire he was holding, the other end of which was attached to Tsunami's arms tied behind her. With a swoosh, the black-haired woman was lifted up from the ground and drew back to upstairs.

Seeing it's no longer possible to rescue the hostage without fighting, Obito immediately changed his mind and grabbed Naruto to retreat. Zabuza took the same action, and they both distanced themselves from each other.

"Seems the negotiation has broken down, Zabuza-san!" Pushing Tsunami towards an open-mouthed ronin, Haku jumped down and landed beside the Demon of the Hidden Mist.

"Of course, you bastard!" Naruto yelled. If it wasn't for Obito who was tugging the back collar of his clothes, the blond boy would have rushed to the front. "How can we give you Jii-san so easily! If you wanna kill him, knock us down first!"

"That's exactly what we plan to do," Haku replied in a serious tone, determination in his eyes. " _Hidden Jutsu: A Thousand Needles of Death!_ "

Making hand seals rapidly with a single hand, the masked teenager stamped his foot hard on a puddle. Countless drips splashed under his wooden sandal, and were instantly condensed into sharp ice needles, fired at shinobi from Konoha.

"Step back!" Obito shouted, pushing Naruto backwards to join Sasuke and Sakura. The three genin pulled out their kunai, trying hard to dodge and block the ice needles, while their sensei had activated his Sharingan and rushed straight towards their enemies.

Zabuza snickered at the scene under his bandages. "So easy to _lure_ you out," he murmured. "Now, Haku!"

"Yes, Zabuza-san!" Haku nodded and made hand seals again. " _Hidden Jutsu: Crystal Ice Mirrors_!"

Ice mirrors were created out of nowhere, trapping Team Seven inside. Another one stood behind Haku, who stepped back and entered the mirror. Just in a flash, he disappeared before reappearing in one of the mirrors that surrounded the three kids.

"Shit!" Obito turned pale. He had thought that the ninjutsu could only be used as a defence, but didn't expect that it could also become a means of attack!

The Uchiha's heart sank. He had had no choice but to bring his students here, in case Zabuza doubted that one of them had transformed into Tazuna. And now they were in danger. 

"Really?" He was just about to rescue his students, when Zabuza's amused voice sounded behind him. "I've known it... you couldn't make yourself intangible when using taijutsu or sucking something into Kamui's dimension. If you attack Haku, I'll attack you from behind. If you go to save the brats, that'll be even better. Of course, you can activate Kamui to enter the fortress of ice mirrors, but as long as you want to cover your students, you must turn solid. Even if you become intangible again, Haku is able to continuously attack you for more than _five minutes_. By then, your dojutsu will reach its limit."

Obito froze at Zabuza's last words. 

Every time in a battle, his enemies had racked their brains to find out the weakness of Kamui. The first point Zabuza made didn't mean anything, as a random experienced jonin who had fought him could easily figure that out. But the second one... especially the _exact_ time limit...

The kunai slipped out of his hand. Obito slowly turned around, stared blankly at Zabuza, "you... How do you know that?"

"Ha... Although I wish to say I found it out by myself, it's a shame that I wasn't yet smart enough to gain so much information from a single fight." Zabuza replied, enjoying his shocked expression, "guess then... _who_ told me about it?"

It was as if a sledgehammer hit him hard at his chest. For a moment, Obito felt his ears ringing and limbs weak and cold, just like he had fallen into an ice cave.

" _...Kakashi..._ " He whispered the only answer.

"He really gave me a big gift before leaving," the corner of Zabuza's lips under the bandage curled up. Raising and carrying the Executioner's Blade on his shoulder, he watched the black-haired jonin with firm will to fight burning in his eyes. "Come on, Uchiha Obito, let's have an exciting fight! I've been too eager to wait to give you a good return on what you did to me last time!"

* * *

It was indeed a tough battle.

Obito knelt on one knee, panting. He had several cuts dripping with blood, and a deep wound on his right leg, which had seriously hindered his move. On his right lay an unconsicous Naruto, who had tiny bloodstains all over his body after the senbons were pulled out.

Not far behind them it was Sasuke lying there, who was even in a worse condition than the Uzumaki. An injured Sakura was sitting on her knees beside him, exhausted but still trying to heal her teammate.

Over there in front of Obito was Zabuza who was also kneeling on the ground. The Demon of the Hidden Mist was supporting himself with his blade, protecting Haku who was also unconscious behind him.

A lose-lose situation.

The masked teenager's Ice Release was powerful. Already shocked at Kakashi telling Zabuza the weakness of his dojutsu, the scream of his students had distracted Obito so much that he couldn't focus on the combat. Unable to perform any large-scaled ninjutsu due to the indoor battlefield, he had no choice but use taijutsu to fight Zabuza, who was also an expert in taijutsu and knew how to fight him despite his intangibility. 

Then the accident happened. Obito wasn't clear about the details; he only knew that Sasuke was severely injured, which enraged Naruto, hence caused the seal that imprisoned Kyuubi to be slightly broken. With the power of the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, Naruto broke the ice mirrors, and Obito had to use his Sharingan on the boy to stop his rampage. Fortunately, Zabuza on the other side was also busy rescuing Haku who was knocked out by Naruto, and didn't take the opportunity to attack them. 

And now they were in a stalemate.

Obito and Zabuza stared at each other with full concentration, not willing to miss each other's slightest movement. The move of eyes, the loosening and tightening of grip, the change of the pace of breath, everything could be a signal of attack-

_Clap! Clap! Clap!_

Someone above them suddenly applauded when the fight was about to burst out at any moment. 

The two shinobi both looked up. The one clapping his hands was none other than Gatō, the man who had caused them to battle in the first place.

"Well well, what a exciting show," there was a triumphant smile on the businessman's face. "It's a shame that no matter how wonderful the show is, it will always come to an end."

With his words, all the ronins upstairs unsheathed their swords and pointed at the six shinobi below. 

"Gatō..." Zabuza said hoarsely through clenched teeth, narrowing his eyes."What do you mean?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Gatō sneered nastily. "Zabuza, I'm gonna have you killed here. I never planned on paying you any money... Hiring normal ninjas is too expensive, and the villages are troublesome, so I get you missing-nin who are easy to handle afterwards. I have you fight each other until you're all weakened, then I kill you with my men that outnumber you... In this way it doesn't cost me anything. Don't you think it's a good deal?"

He opened his arms with complacency. "Now it seems that things are going perfectly as I planned-"

_Thump!_

Gatō's voice stopped abruptly. His expression suddenly froze, eyes widened in extreme horror behind the sunglasses.

"Gagh...!" He opened his mouth again, only to spit out a mouthful of blood.

The whole building fell into a dead silence. Everyone, upstairs or downstairs, was dumbfounded, staring at Gatō, the bloody hand stuck out of his chest with lightning on it, and-

_Tsunami._

The black-haired woman was soon forgotten by the crowd after the fight on the first floor began. Nobody knew when and how she had got rid of the ropes and tapes, and come up behind Gatō without being noticed.

No. That's _not_ Tsunami, but- 

_Poof!_

After the white smoke dissipated, stood there was the silver-haired missing-nin who was said to have left the country this morning.

In the absolute silence, Kakashi's calm voice sounded in everyone's ears.

"You're wrong," he said. "Things are going just as _I_ planned."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Obito in the story is not as strong as the one in canon (for example he can't use Mokuton, which you can assume is because Orochimaru's experiment on Hashirama's cells was just at the beginning stage then). We all know there is a terrible "power inflation" as the canon goes, so it's unfair for Zabuza to fight one of the boss characters of the Fourth War at his full strength :P  
> And Obito was still stronger than Zabuza in normal circumstances (which Kakashi knew very well). He just got shocked and distracted here.  
> Kakashi's intention will be further explained in the next chapter. He still very much cares about his hero, I promise!  
> Next Chapter: The end of the mission in Nation of Wave.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	8. I Always Believe

The factory was deadly silent. The only sound could be heard was drip on the metal floor. It was Gatō's blood, dripping from Kakashi's fingertips.

"You... You should have..." Gatō struggled to look back. "Left the country..."

"That's not me, actually," Kakashi replied. He opened the scarlet eye slowly. "I hypnotized one of your men, ordering him to take my place and get aboard. I also put a genjutsu on him, so you treated him as me. Then I sneaked into the cell where the hostages were locked in, rescued Tsunami-san, and transformed into her." He tilted his head in Inari's direction, "the kid is the real one, by the way, but I made him sleep well in case of any trouble."

"You... Why you... Coughcough...!" Astonished and enraged, Gatō started to cough blood again.

"Well, if you aske me," Kakashi glanced down at Zabuza and Obito before quickly looking away. "Let's say I just had a sudden impulse to save the country. " His voice turned cold, "shinobi may be a tool, but it will still backfire if you used it improperly. "

Saying this, he pulled his arm out of Gatō's chest. With an awesome spin kick, he sent the businessman flying over the railing.

"Gaaaaagh!!" Gatō screamed and fell heavily on the ground in front of the shinobi downstairs. His limb were twitching violently, and a lot of blood spurted out from his mouth and the hole in his chest. Obviously, it was only a matter of time before he died.

"Well then," without bothering to look down, Kakashi turned his eyes to the stunned bodyguard who had Inari in his hand. "Your boss is dead. Do you perfer to be a good man and hand him over to me, or I force you to do so?"

"...Are- Are you kidding?! " The bodyguard yelled. He stepped back to join his companions. "Do you know how hard it was to find such a meal ticket? You damned shinobi dared to kill him! You have to pay the price!"

His words was soon echoed by other ronins.

"Yes! Kill them all and pillage the country!"

"It's just a dirty sneak attack! We've outnumbered him, and there's no way he can take us all down!"

"Those downstairs are already half dead. Kill them first!"

Obito tensed and held Naruto in his arms. He was still able to protect himself despite injured, but it would be more difficult to protect his wounded students at the same time.

 _I'll send the kids to Kamui's dimension when they begin to attack us_ , he thought, inadvertently threw a glance at Zabuza, suprised at what he saw. The latter was covering Haku with his own body, the Executioner's Blade held tightly in his hand. It seemed that the man planned to use himself as a shield to protect Haku.

_Gatō is dead, and there's no reason for us to fight any more..._

"Zabuza!" Obito called out after a short hesitation. "You two, just come into the Kamui's dimension!"

Zabuza stared back at him with slightly widened eyes. The look soon disappeared from his face, and the Demon of the Hidden Mist let out a strange chuckle.

"Is it just you, or all shinobi from Konoha are such big softies? I've got to hand it to you for that," he said and shook his head. "But no, thanks. I don't wanna owe you, and you shouldn't underestimate Kakashi. I don't know what he was like in your memories, but I'm afraid he's now even stronger than you think."

His words took Obito by surprise.

Just at the moment, they both heard a shout from above, "Obito!"

The Uchiha jerked his head up. He saw the bodyguard who had been yelling at Kakashi was now kneeling on the floor, wailing at his right hand which had been cut off from his wrist, while Kakashi was carrying Inari in his arm.

Their eyes met, and Obito understood Kakashi's intention in a instant. Then the silver-haired man raised his arm and threw the boy down.

Tomoes in Obito's right eye changed their shapes. The spiral rift cracked at the moment his fingertips touched Inari. 

" _Kamui!_ "

A perfect tacit agreement and cooperation. As if they had never parted in the past eleven years.

The rift vanished and Obito immediately looked up again. By this time, Kakashi had started his fight-

In other word, _slaughter_.

It was difficult to move on the crowded, narrow corridors, which made the place a best slaughterhouse. Kakashi weaved his way through the crowd of ronins, tanto shimmering white light in his hand. Blood and screams burst out in his wake. His movements were swift and neat, almost like a elegant but fatal dance.

Involuntarily holding his breath, Obito watched Kakashi with obsession. He was reminded of the remarkable genius that he had been desperately trying to catch up many years ago, the silver-haired boy who was like descending from heaven and saved him in the battle of Kannabi Bridge.

Not until this moment, the figure in his memory finally coincided perfectly with the one in front of his eye.

Kakashi stopped at the first corner. He looked even more intimidating now, silver hair and bare shoulders covered with blood, which indicated that there must be more blood on his black clothes and armors. No excitement or fury could be found in the mismatched eyes, nor the evil pleasure evoked by killing, but only a pure indifference, as if what he had done was just some daily routine which was no different from things like eating or drinking.

The rest of the ronins began to feel scared. They huddled together, the hum of panic lingering in the air. Finally, someone started first, then everyone rushed to the stairway, fearing that the ones who were not quick enough would be killed by the devil.

Kakashi didn't move. He just stood there, quietly watching the crowd escape. Until there was no one else left on the second floor, he swished his tanto to get rid of the blood on the blade before putting it back into the sheath on his back. 

Then he stepped onto the railing and jumped down to the ground, landing silently in front of other shinobi. Threw a glimpse at Gatō who was already dead, he walked to Zabuza and reached out his hand to the man.

Carrying Haku on his shoulder, Zabuza closed his hand over Kakashi's and got to his feet with the other man's help. He soon let go of Kakashi, leaning on his blade to keep balance.

"Let's go," Kakashi whispered. Throughout, he didn't cast a glance at those shinobi from Konoha-

" _Wait!_ "

The missing-nin's slightly froze.

"I've sent my ninken to escort Tsunami-san back to her home. She should have arrived by now," he said quietly without looking back. "I sincerely apologize for giving her and her son so much trouble, and it's totally fine if they refuse to forgive me."

"You know that's not what I'm talking about! " Obito shouted with clenched fists.

Kakashi went silent for a moment.

"I thought what I did to your shadow clone has explained everything," he then said. "I've nothing more to say to you-"

"If that's true!" His unfinished words were drowned in Obito's roar. "Then why don't you turn around and face me?! Why don't you dare look me in the eye when saying it!"

"......"

Obito staggered to his feet. He limped to Kakashi with his injured leg.

"I... _We_ 've been looking for you," he said softly, his eyes fixed on the figure in front of him. "Rin and I have never forgotten you. Minato-sensei was gone... There're only three of us left in the team. We... we can't afford another loss."

Kakashi still didn't respond; but he didn't walk away, either.

"You've met Naruto, haven't you?" There was a trace of hope in Obito's eye. He raised his trembling voice slightly. "After you left, I pleaded with Sandaime to be allowed to adopt him. He's now my student. And Sasuke and Sakura over there... Sasuke is Itachi's younger brother. I took him over after _that_ , and we're now living together. Sakura started to learn medical ninjutsu from Rin two years ago. She is her own disciple. They're really like us back then."

With this, the Uchiha extended his hand. His shaking fingertips were about to touch his ex-teammate's shoulder-

_Thud!_

The world spun all of a sudden. The next moment, Obito's back hit the ground heavily. He groaned at the pain, feeling a taste of blood welling up in his throat.

And Kakashi was now riding on Obito. He was grabbing the jonin by his neck with one hand, and holding a kunai in the other one. He pointed at Obito's eye with the blade, the tip of which was only half an inch away from the orb.

"It doesn't matter if I look you in the eye, and I can say it as many times as you want," Kakashi's voice was icy cold. "Team Minato no longer exists. I'm a missing-nin. I have blood of Konoha shinobi on my hand... We're enemies of each other."

"Give up your unrealistic fantasy, _Uchiha Obito_. Maybe I have to gouge your remaining eye out to make you believe that I'm serious? "

The wild killing intent burst out, even made Zabuza wince a bit. Sakura curled into a ball, shivering and sobbing.

But Obito who was facing the killing intent was extraordinary calm.

"Huh," he let out a hoarse laugh. "Do it then. I've given my left eye to you, and it's no big deal to add the other one. You shouldn't have held your kunai so close to me, Kakashi... I can clearly see your hand _shaking_!"

Kakashi's pupils shrank at these words. Subconsciously, he tightened his grip on Obito's neck. Hearing the Uchiha coughing violently and struggling to breath, he finally came back to reality and withdrew his hand quickly as if being bit by a snake.

"Let go of Obito-sensei!!"

The girl's scream came along with several shuriken, which were easily blocked by Kakashi. Looking up, he saw Sakura glaring at him. In her eyes was visible fear and... anger.

 _Obito is a sensei now..._ The thought flashed through his mind.

The kunai was slowly retreated. Kakashi stood up, turning his back to Obito.

"It's for Naruto, and for repaying Minato-sensei's kindness, "he finally said, clenching the handle of his kunai. "If he's still alive... maybe I wouldn't have left the village."

"...Don't go!" Struggled to turn over, Obito reached out and grabbed his ankle. "What happened eleven years ago? Did it have anything to do with your last mission? Why on earth did you leave Konoha?!"

"The past is past," Kakashi replied quietly. "There's no point in seeking the fact any more. The result won't change."

He broke away from Obito's grasp, went to put Zabuza's arms on his shoulder and made the hand seal of Body Flicker Jutsu. However, before shun-shined away, he turned his head again and threw a final look at Obito.

When meeting his gaze, Obito saw a thousand words in Kakashi's eye. But those emotions were soon wiped away in a split second, and there was nothing but emptiness left in the black orb.

Obito suddenly felt his heart clenched. He couldn't help but cry out, "Kakashi-!!"

His hair was windblown by a sudden gust of wind. The three missing-nin disappeared in the whirling leaves, leaving only his desperate call echoing in the air.

_Thump! Thump! Thump!_

Pressing his forehead against the ground, Obito clenched his fist and punched the ground again and again.

"Damn, damn, damn!" He kept cursing, alomst chocked in the end.

"Sen- sensei..." Sakura whimpered weakly.

Obito went silent.

"Let's go, Sakura," he finally whispered after a long time. "The mission... is over. "

* * *

Here was the forest outside the town.

"There you go, " Kakashi said, packing up the bandage and ointment before straightening himself up. "As for Haku, it seems that some Kyuubi's chakra invaded his body when he was hit by Naruto. There's nothing serious, and he should wake up in one or two days. If you're still worried, just go to see Kyoko-san and tell her that I send you there."

Zabuza tentatively stretched his bondaged arms. Then he stared up at Kakashi. Instead of coutinuing the last topic, he said, "you led Obito to the factory and made me fight him until we're both wounded. The aim was to lure Gatō into showing his true colors himself, isn't it?"

"Exactly," Kakashi nodded and admitted frankly. "I could have just killed him, but most likely you would guess it was me and thought I've ruined your mission. I don't want to be your enemy."

Zabuza snorted.

"Besides, "Kakashi added after a short pause. "The fight against you has consumed Obito's physical strength, and made him injured. Otherwise, I'm afraid it would be far from easy to escape from him. "

"Hmph. In the end, we're all your chess pieces," Zabuza shrugged. "So as the one who has been manipulating everything behind the scenes, why are you now in such a look of a _lost dog_?"

Kakashi, who was standing idly, abruptly froze.

"You true intention was neither to save this country, nor to let me know how mean Gatō could be," Zabuza looked at the silver-haired man with sharp eyes. "Changing your mind and interfering the mission, in fact you did all these for Uchiha Obito. But why did you kill his shadow clone then? And what you just told him was not true, I guess. Why did you say that?"

Kakashi didn't answer immediately. Looking away to avoid the other man's gaze, he looked into the distance- the direction of Konoha. For a while there was only the sound of grass rustling in the wind.

"Obito will become Hokage," Kakashi finally said. His voice was quiet but firm. "He will bring changes to Konoha and lead the village to a new era, when heroes will no longer be humiliated and truth no longer buried. He will help everyone and become the guardian of Konoha. I've been always believing in that, and my mind doesn't change a bit even today."

"But I... I'm just a missing-nin, a victim and leftover of the old times. He can't and shouldn't have anything to do with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: A sad Obito and an angry Rin. And a glimpse at Obito and Kakashi's past.  
> We'll also welcome two old friends in canon in the next chapter!  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	9. I Will Protect You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: slight aftermath of canon-typical violence to child.  
> There are only a few lines, but feel free to skip those between +++++ if you would like to.

It was an ordinary morning.

Yawning, Kyoko drew the paper door of her tarven open. She stretched, picked up the bucket and scoop under the counter and started to pour water little by little outside the door.

Someone in Geta clattered on the road and finally stopped in front of her. A tall figure was reflected in the water spreading on the ground.

Kyoko looked up.

The man in front of her had waist-length, spiky white hair tied back into a pony tail, the tips of which brushing the large scroll carrying on his back. He wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "oil" on it, and there were red lines under his eyes which extended to his chin.

The two stared at each other in silence. All of a sudden, the serious look on the man's face was replaced by a perverted one.

"It's been a long time, Kyoko," he said, reaching out towards the landlady. "I can see your boobs are still in good shape-"

_Slap!_

The loud sound startled several sparrows resting on the roof.

* * *

The paper door was drew back.

"I didn't expect you to be so ruthless to me, Kyoko. Is that how you greet an old friend you haven't seen for a long time? " Covering the left side of his face with one hand, the man complained in a pretended plaintive tone. A red fingerprint on his face can be clearly seen through his fingers.

"So you mean you greet your old friend by touching her breast," Kyoko retorted. She took a puff on her pipe, squinting at the man through the smoke. "It's been one year since we last met, and seemingly you're only more shameless than before, Jiraiya."

The man who was slapped in the face by the landlady was none other than one of the famous Konoha's Sannin, Jiraiya the Toad Sage.

"I'm just drawing material," the sensei of Fourth Hokage brazenly answered. "How about that? I can consider taking you as the prototype of the heroine in the new book of IchaIcha series."

"I prefer not, thank you very much," Kyoko refused without hesitation. She put down the pipe, poured sake for both of them, and took a sip from her own glass. "So, what do you want to me to investigate this time? Akatsuki? Orochimaru? Or the Child of the Prophecy? "

"None," Jiraiya replied as the perverted expression vanished from his face. Lowering his gaze, he held the small glass in his hand and slowly rotated it. "I was just passing by Otonashi no Sato when decided to pay you a visit on a whim, and by the way... ask about _Kakashi_."

As the name was mentioned, the tavern suddenly fell into absolute silence. 

The relaxed look on Kyoko's face disappeared. Mutely, she leaned back on the chair and closed her eyes.

"Forget about it if you're here to ask me to be a persuader, Jiraiya," she said dryly after a while. "I'll never interfere in the kid's decision. Whether he chooses to return to Konoha in the future or not, I'll always support him and give him all the assistance I have. But if possible... I really don't want him to have any relationship with that place any more."

"Kyoko, " Jiraiya sighed. "We all know that he can never completely block Konoha out of his mind. After all, it's his hometown-"

"That's why I said that!" Kyoko's eyes snapped open. The usual laziness in her look was gone, replaced by uncontrollable anger. "He's been sent to the battlefield since he was six, and trained to be a skilled killer before other children even graduated from Academy! Konoha took away his childhood, and what did he get in return? _Nothing!_ They just continued to exploit him, to take away his family, his happiness and hope, his right to know the truth, and in the end even the only place he could come back to! What did he do to deserve these misfortunes? "

She glared at the man opposite her, "he knows you're in touch with me. He's been avoiding you over the years, Jiraiya, and don't tell me you failed to notice that! You know the reason, and you know why he'd rather be a missing-nin despite he knows that with your help he can easily be rehabilitated and return to the village! As Konoha's Sannin, the White Fang's best friend, the one who _knows all the truth_ , how do you have the cheek to face him and persuade him to go back to Konoha?"

Her furious questioning echoed in the empty tavern. Jiraiya didn't reply; he couldn't.

He had anticipated Kyoko's reaction before he came here. He knew that once he mentioned Kakashi, she would definitely be angry and rain down accusations on his head. And she did.

But he didn‘’t complain. He knew Kyoko was right, and he deserved it. He felt deeply sorry for Sakumo and Kakashi, and regretful for failing to offer any help when they most needed it. Somehow deep down he was even grateful for Kyoko blaming him, as if in this way he could ease the heavy guilt in his heart, even if just a little.

"You can blame me as much as you want, Kyoko," Jiraiya whipsered after a long pause. "My life has long been full of failures; I couldn't bring my teammate back, win the heart of the woman I love, or save my best friend and my student. Now it doesn't make any difference to add one or two more to this list."

He rubbed his face with both hands. "I'm not here to ask you to persuade Kakashi to return to Konoha. I'll never say that to him myself, either, because I'm in no position to do it. I just want to say that please keep taking care of him. "

"Of course," Kyoko relented when she heard sadness and tiredness from the man's voice. "And I don't just take care of him at your request. It's become my duty since the day that Teruhiko entrusted him to me."

"I know, I know," Jiraiya chuckled. He put down his hands and looked at the woman opposite. "Besides, there's one thing that I think I'd better remind you in advance."

"What?" Kyoko raised one eyebrow.

"If a certain stubborn kid insists on bringing Kakashi back to Konoha, and comes here one day... For the sake of _that eye_ , please be kind to him. "

* * *

Thirteen-year-old Obito was stumbling on the street in Uchiha compound.

The clansmen looked at him with startled eyes. They stared at his shoulder-length spiky hair, scarred face, sunken eye socket, the hospital gown and slippers he was in, and his right arm which was abnormally pale.

Obito didn't bother to care about what they were thinking. His mind has been fully occupied by one thing: the elders of Uchiha Clan imprisoned Kakashi and claimed that they would have a discussion before deciding how to deal with the young jonin.

Obito clenched his fists. Stuck in the hopital, he hadn't cut his nails for a long time, and could feel them sank into his palms.

If it were not for Aoba spilling the beans when his comrades came to visit him today, he still knew nothing about it. Everyone was keeping the information from him; they told Obito that Kakashi recently had some mild symptoms resulted from the transplanted eye, and he was now receiving his own treatment, so he couldn't come to see Obito.

Obito should have known it was a lie. Back then at Kannabi Bridge, after Minato-sensei rescued him from the collapsed cave, Kakashi, who protected Rin and fought against a dozen of Iwa nin until exhaustion before their sensei arrived, had been holding Obito's left hand tightly in his own ones. They didn't let go of each other until they were back to the camp, to Nation of Fire, to Konoha, until Obito was wheeled into the operation room.

Even if he had to risk being caught by nurses, or to sneak out in the midnight, or to crawl into Obito's ward, Kakashi would definitely show up. How could some minor discomfort stop him?

The black-haired boy gritted his teeth. Rin's anxious pleading echoed in his ears.

_Calm down, Obito! I know you're worried about Kakashi, and so am I, but it's beyond our ability to solve such a problem! The situation will only become more complicated if you intervene! Two days ago Minato-sensei was officially nominated as the candidate of Fourth Hokage, and he and Sandaimei-sama have succeeded in persuading Fagaku-san to be on our side. As far as I know, they're now negotiating with those diehard elders. You know our sensei will never sit by and watch others bully his students, so be confident in him, OK?_

Obito certainly had confidence in Minato. He was their sensei, the famous Konoha's Yellow Flash on the battlefield, an omnipotent figure in his students' eyes. Obito believed that Minato would eventually save Kakashi, but who knew how much Kakashi had to suffer before that?

It has been almost a week since Kakashi was led away. Obito remembered in the past, there were few times that Kakashi came to the compound to look for him. When they walked towards the entrance and met other clansmen on the way, he saw some of them casting unfriendly looks at the silver-haired boy.

At that time, Obito had not yet learned what happened to the White Fang, and thought it's just because Kakashi was much stronger and more talented than all Uchiha kids around his age, which hurt their pride, and always seen mixing with him, the black sheep of Uchiha- even they didn't get along well with each other then, although his clansmen might not know about it. But when Obito thought back now, he realized that the reason was likely far from that simple. In the judgement of the elite clan, it must be unforgivable to fail an important mission which caused huge losses to the village and brought shame on Konoha shinobi's reputation.

Not to mention that Kakashi had a Sharingan now. As one who had been ridiculed a lot for it, Obito knew best about how his clansmen were proud of their bloodline limit.

After lying in bed for three and a half weeks, Obito's body was still too weak to run such a long distance. He was violently panting and sweating, his legs got heavier with every step, and his throat was burning. But he refused to have a rest.

Gradually, there were less houses along the street. Here was the northwest corner of the compound, so remote that people rarely came here. And Obito finally arrived at his destination- Uchiha's private prison hidden in the trees.

This ancient facility, which was said to be completed at the same period as the Naka Shrine, looked very humble from the outside. It's just a tiny bungalow built with stone bricks, which might even be smaller than Obito's bedroom. However, its huge main body was deeply buried under the ground, guarded by powerful seals since the Warring States period. Any outsider who tried to intrude here would only die in the most miserable way.

"Outsider", fortunately.

Obito stopped in front of the closed gate. Too hurried to wait for his breath to become steady, he bit his thumb and roughly smeared his blood onto the fan-shaped hollow carved in the middle of the gate. With his eye turning red, he made a hand seal and exclaimed, " _open!_ "

A dim blue light flashed out before the stone gate opened inward slowly with no sound. Obito couldn't wait for it to open completely and squeezed past the crack.

He ran down the seemlingly endless spiral stairs. The slippers slowed him down, so he kicked them away and pattered on the stone stairs with bare feet. In the end, he came down to the bottom. In front of him was a narrow corridor with several iron doors on both sides that were tightly closed. The brazier inlaid in the wall gave out a flickering light, which enveloped everything in a gloomy atmosphere.

With his Sharingan, it's easy for Obito to tell where Kakashi was. He ran to the certain iron door and again daubed his blood on the seal as before. Hearing a click, he eagerly pushed the door open and blurted out, "Kaka-"

His voice came to an abrupt end when he saw inside the cell. As if feeling his rage, the double tomoes in his eye suddenly began to spin wildly, almost turning into a black whirlpool.

++++++++++

The silver-haired boy sat on his knees against the wall, his head dropped. His hands were shackled with the chain hung on a hook above him on the wall, stretching his arms almost up straight. His legs were also shackled, and the chain was connected to a fixed ring on the ground, leaving him little space to move.

Kakashi's armors were removed. Light floated into the cell from behind Obito and his friend's skin looked so pale in the dark with bloodstains and bruises on both arms, which stung his heart badly.

_In the past week... What did those bastards do to Kakashi?!_

For a moment Obito could only see red in front of his eye. He could hear nothing but his heart thumping, his blood rushing through his veins, and his fury swirling and roaring. The anger threatened to burst out and turn into flames that burn everything to ashes-

"O...bito?"

The hesitant voice greeted his ears and drew him back to reality in a split second. The red in front of his eye disappeared. Obito saw Kakashi looking up in his direction.

He saw the whole face of Kakashi. The still new scar across his left eye, a bruise above his right eye, slightly swollen cheeks, and some dried-up blood on the corner of his lips.

++++++++++

For an instant Obito hardly dared to recognize him.

Was this the same Kakashi he knew? That calm, aloof, superior Kakashi that seemed to be never put off by any difficulties?

Obito had known it's a wrong impression. Kakashi was also a mortal who had his limit, and there were certainly things beyond his capability. That's what Obito had understood in the battle of Kannabi Bridge, when he was half-buried under the boulder, while Kakashi was kneeling beside him, anguished and remorseful.

But Obito still haven't seen Kakashi in such a mess- Had he _ever_ been like this?

That thought aroused a gnawing pain in his heart, like there were hundreds of bugs biting him. Obito slowly inhaled and exhaled. He clenched his fist, then unclenched them. Then clenched. Then unclenched.

The tomoes slowed down spinning and finally stopped, _three_ black ones rested around his pupil.

"Yeah. It's me," he replied and walked into the cell.

Kakashi's eyes followed Obito coming closer and sitting in front of him. They gazed at each other, studying the scars on their faces, threwing glances at their arms before quickly looking back into the identical Sharingan.

"Does it hurt?" They asked softly at the same time.

There was a brief silence.

"I'm fine," Obito answered first. He lowered his eyes and stretched his white right arm. "Orochimaru-san is a weirdo, but he really did a good job. The Hashirama's cells fused with my body well, and the rejection in the early stage has disappeared. Rin said I'll be as healthy as ever after a rehabilitation of about two months."

Obito looked up at Kakashi again. After a short hesitation, he reached out and gently covered the other boy's left eye with his hand. "What about you? Do you... feel any discomfort about it?"

He didn't dare to ask Kakashi about those bruises. He was afraid to hurt Kakashi's self-esteem, or to hear an answer that he couldn't bear.

As if he's not used to having such close physical contact with others, Kakashi winced a little when Obito touched the eye, but he didn't retreat further. He blinked, and his eyelashes brushed itchingly over Obito's palm.

"I'm fine, too," the silver-haired boy replied. "Everything looked slightly different now, and it may take me some time to get adapted, but it's not something to worry about."

 _Of course_ , thought Obito. Kakashi was a genius, and he always learned things faster than others. Even as an Uchiha, Obito wouldn't be surprised if Kakashi learned how to use Sharingan before he could- although he wouldn't be reconciled to it, either.

"Oh," he murmured and withdrew his hand. Falling into silence again, he bowed his head and fiddled with his fingers, his mind in turmoil.

_Should I ask? But how?_

He could feel Kakashi's eyes fixing on his head.

"Two days ago," Kakashi suddenly cleared his throat and broke the silence. "Kosuke came here with his followers."

Hearing the name, Obito jerked his head up with a look of disgust on his face.

The said boy was born in a rather powerful branch of the Uchiha clan, and his grandfather was one of the elders. Of the same age as Obito, he had shown his talent early, lived in the praise of clansmen since he was a child, and hence become increasingly arrogant and conceited. He had believed that he was the undisputed best of all his peers, no matter inside or outside the clan.

However, everyone knew how it turned out- none of the Academy students of this year, and even the next few years, had not been overshadowed by one Hatake Kakashi. 

It's only the old grudge, and there was also a recent one between Kakashi and Kosuke. Actually it had something to do with Obito: Since Kosuke awakened his Sharingan and trained them into double tomoes in two years, Obito who were still not able to activate the bloodline limit had become his new toy. The boy took his every opportunity to satirize and provoke Obito, comparing him with Kakashi and saying he's hopeless, as if it was the only way he could give vent to his jealousy at the Hatake boy. 

Usually Obito would avoid meeting Kosuke, or pretend that he didn't hear the other boy if he failed. But once right after a blazing row with Kakashi- it's hard to tell that whether Kosuke had contributed to the particularly awful relationship between the two boys in Team Minato during that days- Obito couldn't help but retorted when Kosuke was again threwing mean words at him, "how much better can you be than me if you are compared with Kakashi?"

That was like stirring up a hornet's nest. Just when Obito was about to be surrounded by Kosuke and his followers, a rain of shuriken suddenly fell from above. It drew a neet and straight line between Obito and others, which clearly showed a signal of threat- _who dares to cross it over?_

The crowd raised their heads. They soon found the silver-haired boy on a branch of the tree nearby, standing there with his arms crossed. No one knew how long he had been there, watching them quarreling.

The Hatake looked down at them with cold eyes. 

"You're late, deadlast," was all that came out from behind the mask. And that's the most wonderful _deadlast_ Obito had ever heard of- although he'd never admit it to Kakashi.

"Thinking of the past?"

Kakashi's voice brought Obito back from his memory. Found himself smiling, he quickly curled the corners of his lips down and asked, "he did this to you?"

"Don't get me wrong," Kakashi shrugged, and the chain overhead clattered. "They haven't chained me up when he came. We... had some argument, then I broke three of his ribs by my kicks and had his shoulders dislocated."

Obito managed to hold back a shiver when thinking of the difference in physique between a tall and strong Kosuke and a short and slim Kakashi, and the fact that his teammate's chakra was now sealed. "And... and then?"

"His grandfather showed up," Kakashi looked up at the chain. "Then here I am like this now. And Kosuke sneaked in again last night, "he grimaced in disdain. "He seemed to think that beating someone who was unable to resist was something honourable. But your younger cousin who gets along pretty well with you- the name's Shisui, right? He secretly followed Kosuke, and called someone when he saw the asshole hitting me. Anyway, if they say they chained me up for a good reason, then what happened afterwards has clearly crossed the line, and even the elders had to stop it. After all, the more bruises I got, the less confident they will be when they negotiate with Minato-sensei. In this sense, I'd rather that idiot beaten me harder, then maybe I can leave this damned place as soon as possible."

"Are you insane?!" Obito was making a mental note to thank Shisui later when he heard Kakashi's words. He couldn't help but shout angrily, "how could someone expect to be beaten up, Bakakashi! And it's unreasonable in the first place for you to fight that bastard, ok? I don't remember you being so easily irritated!" He paused and looked at Kakashi suspiciously, "you didn't intended to do so, did you?"

"...I'm not that insane yet," Kakashi deadpanned. "What do you think I'm like, deadlast?"

"Why did you fight him then?"

"......" Kakashi suddenly stopped talking.

"Spit it out!" Obito demanded. "Or I won't leave today!"

Then he froze in the next moment.

He saw Kakashi, who covered his face with a mask all day and rarely showed any expression, curled his eyes into a sheepish smile.

"Because," Kakashi said softly. "He bad-mouthed you."

All of a sudden, Obito heard his own heartbeat again. Different from last time, however, what flooded him now was huge and inexplicable joy mixed with a hint of bitterness. The emotions welled up in his heart, made him feel eye and nose tingling.

"Your nose is running," he heard Kakashi said in a gentle voice that he had never heard or imagined, calling him the nickname he had always hated. " _Crybaby_."

Before realization, Obito had held Kakashi tightly in his arms.

"Kakashi, Kakashi..." he whispered the other one's name in the silver-haired boy's ear, over and over again. "I'll get you out. I'll get you out of here."

 _I know you are strong, a better shinobi than me, but I still want- no, I_ will _-_

_"I'll protect you."_

* * *

"Are you awake?"

Rin's tired voice sounded above his head. Obito slowly opened his eye. When his vision became clear, he saw the white ceiling of a ward.

"My students..." he turned to look at the brown-haired woman sitting on the chair beside the bed. "Are they alright?"

"Is it time to worried about others when you're lying here like this?" Rin sighed. "Sakura and Naruto have gone home. Sasuke's injuries were a bit more serious, but he's woken up yesterday and is in good condition now. He'll be discharged in one or two days."

With this, she moved her eyes from the medical records in her hand to Obito, her expression serious. "They're all fine, unlike you. I've said it many times, Obito... don't be so reckless just because you have Hashirama's cells. Everything has its own limit."

The Uchiha didn't reply. He slowly turned his head and looked back at the ceiling.

Rin stopped talking. She lowered her head, her hair falling over her eyes.

They both knew why Obito had collapsed immediately after they returned to Konoha and didn't wake up until three days later. The reason was far more than physical pain.

"I dreamed about the past," Obito broke the silence and said in a low voice. "Only this time, my memory was not twisted and turned into a nightmare. But..."

He closed his eye, grasping the sheet tightly. There was something glistening in the corner of his eye. "I failed. I didn't do what I said."

" _I failed to protect him._ "

Rin's head dropped lower. She held the chart tightly to her chest.

"Rin," Obito said after exhaled deeply. He opened his eye again to look at his teammate. "I know it's against the rules, but I want-"

"I know. You don't need to say more," Rin suddenly interrupted him. "I'm already working on it."

"What..." Obito widened his eye in surprise.

"Boys are always stupid, and never get smarter when they grow up!" The medic nin jerked her head up. Her eyes were bright with tears, pain and anger burning inside. "You think you're the only one who wants to bring Kakashi back? To know what happened before he left Konoha? You met, but I wasn't there- do you know how much do I regret not going with you?!"

"N-no, I..." Her outburst without warning caught Obito off guard. He stammered, "I didn't think... I just..."

"Just what?" Rin glared at him aggressively. "Just think it's totally fine to exclude me from you brave plan? Think I've always been a good girl and dare not do anything inappropriate?" She slammed her hand on the bedside table and continued, "listen, Uchiha Obito. When you're sleeping here, I've requested the medical records of every shinobi who has served in ANBU in the name of the vice president of Konoha hospital. _Everyone_ , including the veterans. "

 _But without a warrant signed by Hokage or the commander, you'll break the confidentiality rule and get punished-_ Seeing Rin's resolute expression, Obito knew he must not say it aloud now.

"From these records, it‘s possible for us to find out who took part in the mission with Kakashi," Rin stared at him with piercing eyes. "As long as we can identify them, there must be a way to dig out the truth-"

_Knock, knock!_

Suddenly someone was knocking at the door. Rin immediately stopped, quickly wiped her tears away and exchanged a look with Obito before going to the door.

"Pardon me, but..." The door was half opened, and Obito heard her asking in bewilderment. "Who are you?"

"I'm here to visit Uchiha Obito-san," an unfamiliar but friendly voice replied. "May I see him now?"

Rin looks back at Obito, and the latter nodded. The kunoichi stepped back and said, "of course. Come in, please."

"Thank you," the man outside the door said politely.

Entering the ward was an ANBU. He looked slightly younger than Obito and Rin, with short brown hair and big, black, almond-shaped eyes. He was in his uniform, and the neck of his sleeveless jumper went up to his chin.

"Nice to meet you, Uchiha Obito-san and Nohara Rin-san," he nodded to them as greeting. "You can call me Tenzou... and _I'm here for Kakashi-senpai's matter._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Tenzo talked about Kakashi's last mission.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	10. The Last Mission

An investigation, which was likely to turn into an interrogation depending on his reply- This was Obito's first reaction.

He had finished the draft of mission report on their way back to Konoha, and told Sakura to transcribe and polish it before handing in. He didn't hide the fact that he had met Kakashi, so it's expected that the seniors would have concerns and send an investigator to him.

And the man called Kakashi "senpai". Kakashi was not even fourteen when he became an ANBU, and left after only one year and a half. This guy should probably be around ten years old then, too young to be in ANBU. So was that how the seniors plan to let their guard down?

Obito threw a quick glance at Rin. She had come back from the door and stood aside, hands in the pockets of her uniform. She was wearing a calm and indifferent expression, but as her teammate for many years, Obito could easily see her deeply hidden nervousness.

"What do you want to know?" Obito asked as he managed to sit up from the bed. His voice was hoarse, but the tone was peaceful.

"Well, actually," the ANBU, who called himself Tenzou, was obviously aware of the odd atmosphere in the ward. He scratched his cheek awkwardly, "so far at least, I've known all I need to know. Rather, I'm here to tell you something."

With this, he took out a piece of paper from his pouch, unfolded it, and showed it to them.

Rin's eyes slightly widened as she silently held her breath. Sensing her unease, Obito looked at the paper and immediately felt his heart sank.

It was the request form for Konoha medical system to get a copy of the files from other departments.

"Fortunately, it's me who got this before others," Tenzou said, folded the document into a small square, and put it between two fingers. After a flicker of blue light, the paper crumbled away under his earth natured chakra. "Otherwise, it'll cause a lot of trouble."

The ward fell quiet. After a moment, it was Rin who spoke first.

"As one of the vice presidents of Konoha hospital and the general director of mental health assessment project for shinobi on active service, I have certain right to act before report," she said. Her voice was steady, showing no panic after being found violating the rules.

"That's true," Tenzou nodded. "But it'll be very troublesome afterwards, right? You'll need to hand in a lot of reports, and provide materials to prove that you don't request these files for private purposes- those're files on ANBU, after all. And even so, when _someone_ gets paranoid, it won't help no matter how you explain." He shrugged, "especially right after what happened in the Nation of Wave."

Rin studied him for a while. "I recognize you," she suddenly said. "You're the one who accepted my form at the window that day." She scanned the young man's body with peculiar sharp eyes of a doctor, "I thought people like you would not be sent to do desk jobs."

"Er...haha, that's true," laughing sheepishly, Tenzou scratched the back of his head. "In fact, I just came back from my mission then, and was asked to cover the shift. Mannikin's wife was about to give birth, but he's used up his annual leave when he went to the Nation of River with her to visit her mother."

"An ANBU's mask is for you to hide your identity, not to impersonate others," Obito said sarcastically. "And those weird code names... What's the difference between Mannikin and Sparrow from their masks? I dare say that even the Third Hokage gets confused sometimes."

"Yeah... so every time we report to him, we have to say our code names first," Tenzou laughed dryly. Then his expression suddenly went sad, "there're some names that are easy to remember, but no one wants to use them again... Like _Hound_ or _Fox_."

The room suddenly fell deadly silent.

Hound- Hatake Kakashi; Fox- Uchiha Itachi.

Two famous young geniuses in ANBU who later became missing-nins.

"In a word," Obito broke the silence. "You're here to offer us help."

"If you'd like to accept it."

"There's one more thing that I don't understand. Why are you doing this?" Obito said as he threw back the quilt and moved to sit on the side of the bed. "I know it sounds offensive- don't worry, Rin, I'm not that weak- but do you really know Kakashi?"

He kicked the air in front of him childishly, a little annoyed at himself. After they had a fight for Kakashi joining ANBU without telling him, out of some inexplicable resistance, he had never asked the silver-haired boy about anything about the black ops.

"Well," Tenzou lowered his head and stared at his hands. "It's a long story to tell in detail." He looked up at the Uchiha, "speaking of it, I have a sort of connection with Obito-san, actually."

Saying this, he held up a finger. Under the surprised gaze of Obito and Rin, the finger gradually elongated and turned into the texture of wood.

"...Mokuton?" Obito was stunned with widened eye. "But how could that be...?"

"I'm one of Orochimaru's test subjects for his study on Hashirama's cells, and the only survivor," the young ANBU replied. "After Orochimaru defected, I was recruited into Root by Danzo. Later... it's Kakashi-senpai who freed me from there and encouraged me to join ANBU. "

That's all he said about Kakashi. And it's already enough.

"You're not just here to tell us about the request form, are you?" Rin asked softly.

Tenzou nodded. "I want to tell you something about _senpai's last mission_." His glance swept over the ward as the other two stared at him in shock. "This is not a safe place to talk about secrets. Shall we go to somewhere else?"

* * *

After Obito repeatedly promised that he had fully recovered, and even used the puppy eye that he had no longer used since adolescence, Rin, his physician-in-charge and teammate, finally amusedly approved his discharge.

And there was a smal incident before the three left the hospital.

"You want to leave me here alone? No way," the black-haired boy stood in their way in the corridor. Folding his arms, he cast a suspicious glimpse at Tenzou before looking back at Obito, "I'm leaving, too."

"I'm not in charge of this," Obito said, raising his hands. "You have to ask Rin."

Sasuke turned his eyes to Rin. They stared at each other for a while before the younger Uchiha looked away, slightly blushed in embarassment. He had never been good at dealing with elder, gentle females.

Fortunately, Rin didn't make it difficult for him. "I don't think it's a big problem," the kunoichi said thoughtfully. "Sakura can do the rest of the treatment for you. I think it's a good chance for her to practice."

"Did you hear that, cousin?" Obito opened his arms in an exaggerated way. "You'll become the training material for an intern!" 

"Shut up, baka," Sasuke snarled. "...And I trust Sakura's ability," he added awkwardly.

"It's a pleasure to see you so united," Rin beamed. "Let's go!"

As a result, the four shinobi went back to the Hatake's old house together. Naruto was at home, and coincidentally, Sakura was also there. After Obito had introduced Tenzou to them, the two kids, Naruto in particular, showed great curiosity about the new stranger. When the blond learned that Tenzou could use Mokuton, he even begged the ANBU to show it to him right now. It was obviously the first time that Tenzou was treated like this, which caught him totally off guard. He repeatedly cast his eyes at the two jonin standing by for help, completely lost his previous composure.

"All right, all right, kids, that's the end of the welcome ceremony," Obito clapped his hands in the end. "Stop pestering Tenzou, Naruto, or I'll confiscate all your instant noodles hidden under your bed. Now go upstairs. We adults are going to have a serious talk."

"Hmph," Sasuke snorted. "Apprently it's about Hatake Kakashi, isn't it?"

Naruto and Sakura, who were obediently walking upstairs, instantly stopped and turned their heads.

"I'll stay here," Sasuke looked straight at Obito with obstinacy and determination in his eyes. "I wonder why do people choose to leave the village and become traitors."

"Me, too!" Naruto shouted at once. He sprang on Obito with his arms around the elder man's waist, looking up at his guardian with watery blue eyes. "You guys are so good, and I want to know why did he abandon his teammates!"

"Sensei, shisho... we're worried about you," Sakura said pleadingly.

Obito and Rin looked at each other.

"All right then," the black-haired jonin, who was always softhearted when facing his kids, finally made the concession. "You can stay."

* * *

They sat down at the table, each with a cup of steaming tea in front of them.

"Generally speaking, ANBU has fixed establishments, with a four-to-six-men squad as the lowest unit to carry out missions," Tenzou circled the cup with his hands and looked down at the floating tea leaves in the water. "But when it comes to some particularly important missions or some that require a certain type of ninja, appropriate people may be selected from different squads to form a temporary team. Sometimes when necessary, we even have to cooperate with agents from _Root_."

As he heard that word, Obito felt the tea he had just drunk turned into a stone and fell heavily into his stomach. He had thought about various possible accidents that might had occured in Kakashi's last mission, but he didn't expect that it had been full of uncertain factors from the beginning.

"And then?" He asked, suppressing the ill feeling that rose in his heart.

"What senpai was assigned was exactly such a confidential mission. It's an S-Ranked one, jointly carried out by two ANBU and two Root agents," Tenzou said, putting down the teacup and looking up at others. "Well, although I say 'confidential' here, it's just to those who're on regular duty like you, or civilians. Within ANBU, the exchange of information is not greatly restricted unless there's a gag order. So even though I didn't take part in that mission, I still heard about it."

"To talk about the mission itself, we should start with the frequent foreign trade of Nation of Fire at that time. Back then, Daimyo planned to sign a long-term contract with the Nation of Moon, which was rich in copper. But as the negotiation went, he started to suspect that the information given by the Nation of Moon was incomplete and deceptive. So he entrusted Konoha to send ninja to the other country and investigate the locations and output of several major copper mines in the Nation of Moon."

"That was the mission. Although Kakashi-senpai was only fifteen years old, he's already an ANBU Captain and expert in searching. Therefore, he was selected, and also appointed as the person in charge. And there's a crucial part of the mission: _They must not expose their identities as Konoha shinobi_."

"Wh-what if their identities were exposed? " Sakura asked uneasily.

"If so, they would face much more serious consequences than simply failing the mission," Tenzou answered in a deep voice. "If Nation of Moon got the evidence of Konoha shinobi sneaking into their territory, the Nation of Fire would be very likely to be accused of lack of good faith and become the disadvantaged side in negotiation. What's worse, if the rumors of the country's insincerity spread, it would have a great impact on the future trade between the Nation of Fire and other countries, resulting in immeasurable heavy losses..."

Tenzou was continuing talking about something, but Obito was no longer listening. The voice of the young ANBU suddenly sound distant. Instead, what echoed in his ears was what his sensei had told him one night-

_Five years ago, Sakumo-san was on a top secret mission, sneaking into enemy lands. Unfortunately, he had to make a choice between the success of the mission or his comrade's life. Of course, if he followed the village's rules, he couldn't give up the mission, but he finally abandoned it to save his companion. But because of that, the Nation of Fire suffered a great loss, and both the country and the village blamed him for it. In the end, he was even disgraced by the comrade he had saved. From that mission, Sakumo-san mind and body were both broken, and soon later... he ended his own life._

_...That's impossible,_ he heard himself murmuring inwardly with pure anxiety and panic. _It couldn't be that coincidental. The history couldn't repeat itself. It couldn't be so cruel-_

"...Obito-nii? Sensei? UCHIHA OBITO!!"

"...!!" Suddenly drew back to reality, Obito jerked his head up. The others were all looking at him with concern. Naruto, who had been sitting on his right side, was now right beside him. The blond had been shaking his shoulder and calling him.

Belatedly, he felt a burning pain on the back of his hand. Looking down, he found he had somehow knocked the cup over, and the hot tea had splashed on his left hand, which made the skin red.

"Nothing," gulped, Obito struggled to whisper a response. He sounded hoarse and weak. "I'm fine."

"You're fine?!" Naruto shouted. "You look pale as hell, like a ghost!"

 _Yeah,_ thought Obito. He had seen himself in the reflection of the water on the table. _Maybe even worse than a ghost._

"Tenzou," forcing himself to calm down, he turned to the ANBU at the other end of the long table. "Tell me. That mission... Was it successfully completed?"

"It was. Nation of Moon knew that our men had spied on their mines, however, without solid evidence they could do nothing about it. The trade was a great success for Nation of Fire," Tenzou gave the answer that Obito hoped to hear. As if having read his mind, the young man added, "but... _Kakashi-senpai didn't come back."_

There was a dead silence at the table. Rin dropped her head and buried her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking slightly. The three genin looked at each other with mild confusion. Although they couldn't fully understand the story, they were undoubtedly frightened by Obito's previous reaction.

"After senpai was identified as a missing-nin, Sandaime and Danzo had jointly issued a gag order, which forbade every yone to mention anything about that mission," in the end, Tenzou broke the silence. "Therefore, I had no way to learn the details about how was it completed. But fortunately, I recently figured out who was the other ANBU that had took part in the mission together with Kakashi-senpai."

He looked Obito in the eye with an extremely serious look. "What we talked about today could be kept to ourselves, but it's a different matter to see that man. He may refuse to cooporate, or tell us what he knows. Once we're caught secretly probing into a top secret mission, you, Rin-san and me will all face serious punishment. What's worse, it's very likely that even if we learn the whole thing, we still can't do anything about it. Do you want to continue in any case? "

Obito didn't answer immediately. He took a deep breath and slowly exhaled.

He felt like there's a Pandora's box in front of him. He already knew that the box was filled with something not very beautiful, but perhaps the darkness hidden inside was even beyond his original expectation.

Should he open the box?

His heartbeat gradually returned to its usual frequency. The organ was beating strongly and steadily in his chest, continuously pumping blood to every blood vessels, making his cold limbs warm and strong again.

It's a question that was unnecessary to be asked.

"Sure," the Uchiha answered as he looked back at Tenzou with a crimson eye. "Let's talk to the one who knows the truth."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next Chapter：More about the mission in the Nation of Moon.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	11. Wrose Than Trash

The next day Tenzou took Obito and Rin to the southwest of Konoha after sunset.

Ninja was a profession with a high disability rate, especially for ANBU who carried out the most dangerous missions all the year round. The houses in this area were built for those shinobi who had retired due to injuries. As a part of the pension policy in the village, they were sold at a price lower than the cost.

"The code name was Crane," Tenzou told them as they walked along the alleys. He's in a jonin uniform today, just like Rin and Obito. "In a mission four years ago, he lost his left leg due to an Explosive Tag when protecting his teammate, and hence retired from ANBU. Now he lives with his wife and two kids, one is nine and the other is five. Neither of them wants to be a ninja," he laughed dryly at last.

Obito and Rin mutely exchanged a look.

Even he had been called "deadlast" for many years, Obito had never thought about doing something else other than becoming a ninja. Born as an Uchiha, it seemed to be his lifelong mission and obligation to be a ninja and fight for the glory of the village and the clan. Not only in Uchiha, but also in Hyuga, Nara, Sarutobi, and many other shinobi clans with long histories, their members' life plans were all quite similar.

But Konoha didn't only consist of big clans. There were more shinobi who were not from families that inherited bloodline limit or hidden jutsu. Their parents were not powerful celebrities. They were just one of those ordinary ninjas- some were not even ninjas.

It's the war. If the village wanted to win a war, it needed a lot of manpower. Even there were strong shinobi like the Sannin, the White Fang, or the Yellow Flash, who could change part of the war situation for some time, the overall victory was always built on the corpses of numerous nameless ninjas.

Obito still remembered the tense atmosphere in the village during his childhood when everyone was preparing for the war. If Konoha was destroyed, not only shinobi, but also civilians living here would lose their homes. People really didn't have much choice under such circumstances.

The war created a large number of ninjas. They learned to fight early, went to the battlefield early, killed early... or were killed.

To this extent, it's not necessarily a bad thing that the new generations could decide whether to go on the road of ninja or not as they wished.

"Here we are," Tenzou stopped in front of a two-storeyed house. He looked back at Obito and Rin, and they nodded back at him. Then the young ANBU went to the doorway and rang the bell.

Loud ringing sounded inside. They waited for a while before finally heard a slow and strange sound, _thump, thump, thump._

 _It's the sound made by a wooden artificial leg_ \- Obito suddenly realized.

He grasped his own right arm involuntarily. For a moment he was in a disturbed state of mind; there were countless thoughts springing up, but when he deliberately went to check them, they slipped through his fingers like sand.

Just then, the door opened with a click.

Behind the door was a thin man in casual clothes. He looked in his late thirties, with grey hair and grey eyes.

"Ah," his eyes swept from Tenzou to Obito and Rin, lingering on the black-haired jonin shortly before returning to his former colleague. "Bobcat. I _knew_ it's you. "

Tenzou raised an eyebrow. "You knew it's me?"

"Please come in! Miki and the kids are going to sleep over in her sister's, so we have the whole night," Crane didn't seem to be surprised at their visit in the slightest, but rather expect them to show up. He hobbled back a few steps to let them enter the house. "I know what you want to ask me, and I'll tell you the whole thing from beginning to end."

" _-About what happened to Hatake Kakashi during the mission in the Nation of Moon._ "

* * *

**[Note: the following part is Crane's POV in the first person.]**

_Bobcat should have told you that the mission was jointly carried out by ANBU and Root. From ANBU there_ _were Hound- Kakashi, and me; and from Root there were two men with the code names of Nineteen and Twenty-six, respectively. Although Kakashi was the youngest, he was also the strongest and the best one at sneaking and searching among us, so he was appointed as the team leader by Sandaime and Danzo-sama._

_White Fang had chosen to give up the mission and rescue his teammate, which brought great losses to the Nation of Fire and the village. For this reason, he was placed in a desperate and miserable position. After he committed suicide, Sandaimei had suppressed all the discussions and demanded everyone to speak with one voice, telling the kids and the outside world that he was a hero who died for the village. Back then you were still too young to be impressed by these things, and accepted the wrong information in the end, as Sandaime had expected._

_I've heard about what happened between you and Kakashi in the battle of Kannabi Bridge, Uchiha Obito. I wouldn't comment on if comrades were important than missions, or the other way around; or whether White Fang had done the right or wrong thing. But since he'd already paid the price, the tempest that he caused should end after his death, and never affect his son again. That's how I thought about it. However, it's a pity that not everyone held the same opinion, or thought what White Fang had faced was a dilemma._

_They thought completing missions should be above everything else, including the lives of their comrades. They despised White Fang's doing and thought he had dishonoured the village. As a result, they also had a prejudice against Kakashi, believing that he would one day follow in his father's footsteps and become the black sheep that caused the failure of missions, even he was such a young genius and had achieved accomplishments that many others might not be able to attain in their lifetime._

_Sadly, Root was exactly such a mission-oriented organization. And Nineteen and Twenty-six were exactly those ninja who have such ideas, even in these days._

_Over the years, I've recalled the details of this mission countless times. I remember that since we left Konoha, Kakashi has seemed to be in an abnormal mood. Although I never worked with him before, I've heard many praises about his calmness inside and outside ANBU, so it's really strange that he appeared to be very tensed._

_Now when I think back, maybe since then, he has subconsciously linked this mission with the one that led to his father's suicide. But none of us could have expected that things would go in a fatally similar way, but result in a totally different outcome._

_The mission went well at first. With the help of Kakashi's ninken, we easily found the location of several copper mines, bypassed the guards and gathered the information we needed. It seemed so easy and quite different from various difficult situations that we've imagined before we set out. Although Kakashi has repeatedly warned us that we shouldn't take it lightly as long as we haven't left the Nation of Moon, as the mission was nearly completed, all of us except him inevitably relaxed our vigilance in varying degrees._

_And that's exactly what our enemies aimed at._

_There was no shinobi village in the Nation of Moon, but their Daimyo paid a very high price and hired a large group of A-ranked missing-nins from the black market. There were also experts in tracking among them, who had been monitoring our whereabouts since we entered the country. They waited until we arrived at the last and largest copper mine and finally launched an ambush._

_It was a very fierce fight. They outnumbered us, and what's worse, we were shackled because we must not blow our cover. Kakashi, in particular, was so famous that he couldn't use his Sharingan, Chidori, or even his tanto, which greatly restrained his power. After a bloody battle, we finally broke out of their encirclements and retreated to the mountains near the copper mine._

_Unfortunately, when we're chased, Twenty-six who was injured in his leg previously fell into the hands of the missing-nins._

_At that time we've collected enough information. As long as we could manage to return to Konoha, the mission would be successfully completed. As for Twenty-six, the thought of never betraying the village or Danzo-sama has been burned into every Root agent's mind, so we were not really worried that he would give away our identities._

_However, he would certainly be tortured and executed in a cruel way by the angry enemies who failed to dig out anything from him._

_Kakashi, Nineteen and I hid in a cave. It's getting late, and we dared not make a fire in case they would find us. So we sat in the dark in silence. We could't stay here for too long, because the missing-nins might start to search the mountain at any time. We must make a decision as soon as possible._

_"_ I'll go to save him _," Kakashi finally broke the silence._

_"It's meaningless," Nineteen immediately objected. His tone was so apathetic, as if whom Kakashi was going to save was not his comrade, but just some random civilian."It's even more difficult to rescue and bring him back than to break through and throw off the enemies, and it's likely to reveal this hiding place as well."_

_"That's why_ I' _ll do it," Kakashi replied calmly. He stood up and I heard a rustle. He took off the bandage over his left eye. "I'm stronger than both of you. If you go to rescue him, you'll get caught, too. But if it's me, there's still possibility of success."_

 _"And_ you' _re also the one who's taking the highest risk exposing your identity, Hound!" Nineteen snarled in a low voice, thumping the rock wall irritatedly. "Once they get some evidence, not only all our efforts in the past ten days will be in vain, but also what awaits us will be extremely serious concequences!_ You _understand what it means better than anyone,don't you?"_

_In the dark, I sensed that he was looking at me, hoping I could support his opinion. I knew what he said was right. This mission was extraordinary. No mistakes were allowed. If we weigh the pros and cons, it's obvious that the risk would be minimal if we did nothing, and Twenty-six died without saying a word._

_But the price would be his life. Although I've never known him before, and I didn't like him very much, he's still someone that we once fought together and entrusted our back to each other. So I couldn't utter any words that echoed Nineteen's._

_Only then did I understand what a difficult situation Sakumo-san had faced. And today, as if it was a curse of fate, his son has come to the same fork in the road._

_"It's the captain's order," before I could organize any words, Kakashi had spoken again. There was a note of finality in his voice. "In two hours, if I don't come back with Twenty-six, you'll continue to move north and return to the border where we sneaked into the Nation of Moon and stand by there. Three days later, if we still don't show up, then Crane will take over the command and lead the team back to Konoha."_

_As he spoke, he had reached the entrance of the cave. Half of his body was bathed in the moonlight, and I saw him looking back at us. Through the hole on the mask I saw his Sharingan, strikingly scarlet as the blood stains on his silver hair._

_"_ I don't want to be trash, _" he said. "_ But I'm even less willing to be someone worse than trash. _"_

_Then he put on his hood and left. After he vanished in the dark, I heard Nineteen sighing. It was the most emotional sound I've ever heard from him in the past two weeks._

_"He doesn't_ understand _," Nineteen whispered. "He doesn't understand at all."_

_He didn't explain what exactly Kakashi didn't understand, and I didn't ask. But inexplicable uneasiness was growing in my heart, and I didn't even know why._

_We waited quietly in the cave, telling the time by the moon. An hour later, Kakashi hasn't come back. Half an hour later, still no one appeared._

_And finally, when there were only five minutes left, we heard footsteps approaching._

_It's Kakashi. He was followed by the biggest black ninken, who's carrying an unconscious Twenty-six on his back. They both looked terrible, especially Kakashi, who looked like he'd rolled in blood and mud. As soon as he entered the cave, he slumped against the rock wall, took off his dirty mask and threw it aside. As he closed his eyes wearily, his dog disappeared into a cloud of white smoke and threw Twenty-six to the ground. It seemed that he had spent too much chakra._

_Nineteen was the only one among us who knew medical ninjutsu. He immediately went to treat Twenty-six. The dim green light illuminated his mask. I thought he would ask if everything went well, or if they had exposed their identities, but he said nothing._

_And when Twenty-six opened his eyes, I soon understood why he didn't say a word. I also quickly understood why he had said_ that _previously._

_"You! You used that eye! Those people, they've seen it! And your damned tanto!" As soon as he regained consciousness, Twenty-six struggled to turn his angry eyes to Kakashi. "Do you really think nobody else except the Yamanaka clan has the hidden jutsu that can read memories? They've got the evidence they want! Mission failed! You've screwed up everything!"_

_I stared at him dumbfoundedly. I never knew that someone could yell at his comrade who had just risked his life to save him from the enemies a few minutes ago. He showed no gratitude, not even a perfunctory 'thanks', instead just kept threwing vicious words to the kid who was more than a decade younger than him._

_I felt my hands clenched into fists. I want to punch Twenty-six in his face, telling him if he refused to shut up, I'd be happy to do it for him. But before I stood up, Nineteen had put one of his hands in front of my eyes, while still curing Twenty-six with the other one._

_"Don't get involved, Crane," he said. His voice returned to the old inhumanity. "That's what Hound deserves. From the moment he decided to risk exposing his identity and rescue Twenty-six, he should have expected the possibility of failing the mission, and any consequences that would follow."_

_We stared at each other. Twenty-six was still cursing. Kakashi sat still, and didn't bother to open his eyes. I didn't know if it's my imagination, but under the green glow of medical Ninjutsu, it felt like that his face was even a bit paler than usual._

_Then Twenty-six said such a thing._

"If I were you, I would take out the tanto and commit hara-kiri as apology- just as your stupid and cowardly father once did! _"_

_Kakashi's eyes snapped open. The Sharingan was red as blood, tomoes spinning wildly inside. In his eyes I saw the explicit killing intent. For a moment, I thought he would use Chidori to pierce through Twenty-six's chest at any time._

_But he didn't. He just closed his eyes again. When the black right eye opened again, the killing intent had disappeared._

_No emotions could be seen in that eye._

_He slowly levered himself up with one hand against the rock wall. When he tried to straighten his legs, he almost fell to his knees. When he bent down to pick up the mask on the ground, I saw his fingers shaking._

_"There is still a chance of remedy," I heard him speaking, and again, no emotions could be heard from his voice. "The six men haven't gone far, so It's not impossible to catch up with them before the main force comes. Just kill them all."_

_"From now on, Crane will take over the command of the team," he put on his mask and gathered his cloak around him. "Once Twenty-six's condition is stable, you'll set out to the border and stand by there. If I don't show up in three days, go back to Konoha immediately. "_

_This was his last order as captain. Also, it's-_

* * *

" _-It's the last time I saw Hatake Kakashi._ "

Crane's story came to the end. The whole living room was horrifyingly quiet. Outside there were passers-by talking and laughing, which sounded so distant that even seemed to be from another world.

_Haa, haa._

The heavy breath broke silence.

"...Obito?" Lifting her face covered with tears up from her hands, Rin looked at her teammate, her voice shaking. "You... are you alright?"

She didn't get an answer. The black-haired Uchiha curled up on the chair, clutching tightly at the front of his own clothes, gasping for breath. His eye was wide open with the pupil dilated, his gaze totally unfocused.

_Haa, haa._

His wheeze became increasingly rapid, like a drowning man who had struggled for a long time and finally broke through the water. Lots of cold sweat rolled down his forehead, silding past the corner of his eye and his scarred face like tears.

_Haa, haa._

He bent down deeply, his shoulders trembling violently. Even his limbs started to twitch uncontrollably.

"Obito!" Rin stood up with a jerk. Hastily wiping away her tears, she quickly switched to the state of a doctor. "You two, help me hold him down!"

As if awakening from a dream, both Tenzou and Crane quickly came over, grabbed Obito's arms and pinned them to his sides, forcing him to raise his head and stretch his body. Rin pressed her hand on Obito's chest, her palm glowing green light. She then clapped her other hand over the Uchiha's nose and mouth, but left him a little space to breath.

"Try to slow down your breath, Obito," she looked at the intimidating Sharingan, guiding him with a cool and soft voice. "You need to calm down..."

Fuzzy color pieces were dancing before his eyes. His ears were buzzing loudly. Obito recognized Rin's voice from the noise, but his brain couldn't transform her words into meaningful signals. His mind was in chaos, in which the memories were mixed with his imagination, and turned into a bloody ugly mass, blocking his eye, ears, mouth and nose, making him blind, deaf, mute and on the verge of suffocation.

In the dark red, all he could feel was only one being, one person, one name, _Kakashi, Kakashi, Kakashi..._

_How desperate you should have been at that moment._

_And how could I failed to be by your side._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy birthday to my dear boy Uchiha Obito!  
> I'm really sorry to make you heart break and hyperventilate (╥_╥)
> 
> Next chapter: Outraged Obito (again). And Jiraiya told the third part of Kakashi's story.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	12. The World Is Wrong

Rin's chakra forced Obito's heartbeat to slow down. His vision returned to clear, the noise in his ears gradually dissipated, and he was brought back to reality. He moved his unfocused gaze around. When he saw the house owner who was standing beside his chair, looking down at him, fury came to his eye in an instant.

_Thump!_

Obito, who had been weak just now, suddenly broke away from the hands on him. He jumped up and punched Crane hard in the face. Caught off guard, Crane groaned and fell back. He hit the bookshelf behind him heavily, and several books fell to the ground.

"Obito!" Rin cried in astonishment. Seeing Obito still wanting to launch a few more punches, she rushed towards him and grabbed his arm. "Calm down!"

"You!" Obito glared at Crane. His expression was slightly twisted by his anger, and the Sharingan was glowing red intimidatingly. "Why didn't you stop him? If you and that Nineteen had gone with him, you'd have certainly killed all those missing-nins! Why did you let he go alone?!"

Rin's face went sad. She lowered her head and her hands dropped feebly from Obito's arms.

It was quiet in the room. After a while, Crane broke the silence.

"You got the point," he replied in a downhearted voice, as if the recollection also exhausted him. "Yeah... although I didn't know what Nineteen was thinking, at the moment I learned that the mission failed, maybe complaint had also risen in my heart. 'If only you haven't gone to save Twenty-six", "if only you haven't used your Sharingan and tanto"... even knowing his determination, that he decided to save his teammate despite his father's example, that he shouldn't be treated so harshly, I still couldn't help but have such thoughts in my mind. Finding a scapegoat and shifting responsibility when facing tremendous pressure and fear... maybe that's the downside of human beings."

He lowered his eyes and put his hand on his left knee. It was a wooden artificial leg. "Perhaps this is the retribution I deserve. Over the past ten years, I've asked myself countless times, that if I went with him, would we be able to successfully make up for the previous mistakes and let the four of us return to Konoha safely; or if I stopped him, when we came back with the failure, would he be forced to the same disastrous road as Sakumo-san was."

After a brief pause, the middle-aged man looked up at the three shinobi, a sad but relieved smile on his face. "Now, at least I've known the answer to the second question."

The room went quiet again.

"Obito-san," Tenzou suddenly said, and the other three all turned to him. His voice was calm, but his expression very terrifying, almost creepy. "I think I may be able to identify Twenty-six."

Obito widened his eye, danger shining in the crimson pupil. "Find him out," he said hoarsely, his fists clenched. "Whatever you plan to do, count me in-"

His words were drowned in a loud noise. White smoke rose, and then a tall figure appeared in front of them.

"Jiraiya-sama!" Rin exclaimed in surprise.

"Wow wow, it seems that you two brats are going to do something bad," although saying it in a carefree tone, the Toad Sage's expression was serious, his sharp eyes fixed on Tenzou and Obito. "But sorry, as long as I'm here, I won't let you do any stupid things. Attacking, even killing a fellow shinobi... you know what will be the consequences."

"Why do you butt in, perverted old man?" Seeing Jiraiya, the danger in Obito's eye seemed to subside a little, but his tone was still cold and stiff.

"...Every time I hear you call me by that, I always feel my fingers itching," Jiraiya clicked his tongue and scratched his spiky hair. "Anyway, let's get down to business. I don't 'butt in', in fact, I'm the one who's now in charge of this matter."

With this, he went over and reached a hand out to Crane. The latter got to his feet with Jiraiya's help and expressed his gratitude in a low voice. Although his attitude was respectful, he didn't sound as surprised as the other three. Obviously, he had expected the Sannin to show up.

Tenzou's eyes widened. "You mean..."

"Yeah, it's exactly what you think," Jiraiya nodded to him. "As an ANBU, you won't forget the principle of bringing secrets into your coffin, will you? Not to mention there was a gag order. Of course Crane won't be so cooperative and tell you the whole thing without Sarutobi-sensei's acquiescence."

"So-"

"So you also know everything back then?" Tenzou was about to speak, but he was interrupted by Obito. The Uchiha stepped forward and asked eagerly, "including... including what happened after that?"

Jiraiya turned to Obito, and his face grew solemn.  
  
"Yes," he replied. "I know more than Crane does. And I'm here to tell you- especially you, Obito- the aftermath of the mission in the Nation of Moon."

* * *

Four shinobi left Crane's home and went back to the Hatake's old house. Without waking up the sleeping children, they sneaked into Obito's bedroom through the window on the second floor one after another. 

A trace of nostalgia and sadness flashed in Jiraiya's eyes as he looked around. He raised his hand and pressed it against the wall. A dim blue light spread from his palm, and flowed silently on the walls, ceiling and floor of the whole room before disappeared.

"All right," he sat down cross-legged on the floor, beckoning Obito, Rin and Tenzou to join him. "Let's start."

"I want to know everything you know," Obito said bluntly. He sat down opposite Jiraiya, staring at his sensei's sensei.

"I'll tell you everything you need to know _at this point_ ," Jiraiya subtly avoided Obito's requirement. He looked at Obito and Rin. "Well, where shall we start... You two still remember what happened after Kakashi didn't come back, don't you?"

Rin bit her lip and nodded silently.

"Of course," Obito whispered. "How can I forget it?"

First, he heard that Kakashi was captured by enemies and would probably get tortured; then it's said that he was killed in the battle, but his body was not retrieved; when he finally managed to calm down and accept the reality, the funeral was suddenly cancelled the night before. Gradually, disturbing rumors spread secretly, until a few days later, he and Rin were summoned to the hospital morgue, and then- saw a corpse that was penetrated by Chidori.

Although things have passed for many years, the mixed emotions of confusion, anxiety and panic had been forever engraved upon his heart, still fresh in his memory. The scenes still occasionally visited his dreams, distorted and reshaped into nightmares by his deepest fear.

Since then, he had learned a truth. Whenever you thought you were at rock bottom, there would always be more unexpected bad news waiting for you.

"Then I'll start here," Jiraiya sighed. "As you know, Crane's team stayed at the border of the Nation of Moon for three days, but Kakashi didn't show up. Instead, they were noticed by the missing-nins. They're not sure if the enemy found them by chance, or Kakashi was caught and revealed their whereabouts under torture. No matter what happened, they couldn't stay there any longer, so they set out to return to Konoha."

"Since it's a joint mission of ANBU and Root, of course, they had to report to not only Sarutobi-sensei but also Danzo. After learning the whole story, Sarutobi-sensei and Danzo had a disagreement. The old man believed that Kakashi had died, but he had never betrayed Konoha, but Danzo refused to exclude the other possibility. They both held their own opinions, and couldn't convince each other."

"Five days later, with the information obtained, the Nation of Fire succeeded in the negotiation, while the Nation of Moon failed to show the evidence that Konoha shinobi had sneaked into their country and spied on their mines. According to this, sensei judged that Kakashi must have been killed rather than betrayed the village. So he announced the kid's death and began to prepare for his funeral. "

"However, no one had anticipated that one week later, the day right before the funeral, the event took an unexpected turn again."

"Someone... saw Kakashi somewhere? " Rin asked quietly.

"No, but the consequences are the same," Jiraiya shook his head. "From an info broker in the black market, Danzo's men heard about the recent situation of the missing-nins. Root learned that those they had sent to track the Konoha team on that day were all killed, but there was no trace of Kakashi at the scene. In other words, he was likely to be still alive and not caught by the enemy. But if so, why hadn't he returned to Konoha, or even sent back any news?"

"Danzo questioned Sarutobi-sensei about this. They had another dispute and finally reached an agreement: Kakashi's funeral was postponed. If his death was confirmed within 20 days, the funeral would be held; if they could get his information, they would send someone to pick him up; if there was nothing, or they found that Kakashi refused to return to the village at his own will, they would identify him as a missing-nin and issue the wanted order." The Toad Sage paused and sighed deeply, "and you've all known how it turned out."

"After 20 days, senpai still didn't show up," Tenzou whispered. "So Sandaime-sama had no choice but issued the wanted order. At the same time, both him and Danzo sent ANBU and Root to search for Kakashi-senpai. And then... the bodies of two Root agents were found. One of them died of a penetrating wound in his chest."

He threw a glimpse at Obito and Rin before quickly looked away. "After identification... the wound was caused by Chidori."

"By the way I have one more point to add," Jiraiya said. His face suddenly became gloomy. "The order that Sarutobi-sensei gave to AUBU was, 'once Hatake Kakashi was found, try to bring him back to Konoha without causing conflict'. Although I didn't have any evidence... I've been suspecting that what Danzo gave Root was a completely different one."

He didn't say it too explicitly, but the others had already understood the implication in his words-

_Kill on sight._

How could Kakashi have killed a fellow shinobi from Konoha if he hadn't been pushed to the brink of death?

The room was dead silent.

"If you've finished, I have one last question," after a few moments, Obito broke the silence. He had restrained all his anger or anxiety, but none of Jiraiya, Rin, or Tenzou ever thought that he was actually as calm as he looked like. "Who was the person that designated Kakashi for this mission in the first place?"

Jiraiya looked at him. "You already guessed it, didn't you? It was-"

"- _Shimura Danzo_."

The moment the name was spoken, Obito's eye turned crimson at once and the tomoes changed their shapes. He lurched to his feet. The air around him was twisted as a spiral rift slowly opened.

" _Wild Lion's Mane Jutsu!_ " Having expected his reaction, Jiraiya quickly made the hand seals and shouted. His hair suddenly grew longer wildly, divided into several strands and lunged at Obito. In the blink of an eye, the Uchiha had been wrapped up tightly from head to toe, leaving only his head outside.

"Don't underestimate the power of my hair now," the Toad Sage warned in a sharp tone before Obito could make his next move. "If you try to turn intangible or escape into your dimension, I will break your limbs before you can do it. Don't think I'm joking, kid!"

"Let go of me!" Obito growled and struggled desperately. If not for Jiraiya who had set the privacy barrier beforehand, his roar would have been loud enough to wake up Naruto and Sasuke in the next room.

"You two, go home now. I want to talk to him alone," Jiraiya said to Rin and Tenzou, his eyes still fixed on Obito. The usual cordiality in his voice faded and was replaced by an almost commanding tone.

Rin and Tenzou looked at each other. They had both long since left the ranks of new recruits, but the fierce killing intent that had just burst out of Obito still sent shivers down their spines. It was even hard to imagine that Obito just now was the same person as the usual one.

"Well then... we'll take our leave," Rin said with a pale face, casting a final worried glance at her teammate. Tenzou also nodded to Jiraiya before the two ninja left through the window.

There were only Jiraiya and Obito left in the room. For a while neither of them spoke, and all that could be heard was Obito panting and wriggling his body, trying to break free from the elder man's hair.

"You're already a sensei yourself. How can you still be so hot-headed!" Jiraiya scolded him in annoyance. He got to his feet and went over to Obito, looking down at the young man by taking advantage of his height. "What do you want? To single-handedly break into Root's headquarters, kill Danzo, and then become a missing-nin yourself?"

"...He deserves it!" Obito hissed, glaring at Jiraiya. There was no mistaking the hatred in his voice. It seemed that if Danzo dared to appear before him, he would chop the man into pieces without hesitation in the next moment.

His limbs were firmly entangled in Jiraiya's hair, which constricted him with pain, but the physical pain was no match for the mental one. The fire was blazing in his chest, almost drying up his blood, burning up his organs and turning his mind into ashes.

Shisui, Itachi.

His friends, the only two clansmen who had always treated him kindly. One died mysteriously with his body sank to the bottom of the Nara River, which had not been found since then; the other was forced to kill his own parents and slaughter his own clan when he was only thirteen, leave his hometown and become a missing-nin, who was regarded by his beloved little brother as the target of his lifelong revenge.

Kakashi.

His teammate, the people he cherished and cared for most in the world, were thrown into one disaster after another. Even one with the strongest perseverance would eventually collapse in the chain of malice.

The ones who were most loyal to the village, willing to dedicate their lives to the village, were all ended up in such miserable situations, while behind these tragedies there always stood that man- the senior of Konoha who represented part of the will of the village.

How could he not be angry? How could he not be disappointed? How could he take the blood and tears of his friends for granted and pretend as if nothing had happened?

"Why?!" Scowling at Jiraiya, Obito yelled at the top of his voice. "How could you accept the reality so easily? Why didn't you do or say something even you knew the truth, and just let it be covered up? That old bastard Danzo... he... he ruined everything!"

"I heard from Minato-sensei that you were a close friend of Sakumo-san. Didn't you feel sorry about Kakashi's sufferings, even in the slightest? Or maybe your friendship was just some empty words, so when White Fang died-"

Before finishing his words, Obito was seized by Jiraiya by his throat, and pinned heavily against the wall. Too startled to care about the pain in the back of his head, he widened his eye in astonishment- he had never seen the Toad Sage be so furious, on the edge of losing control.

"Don't talk like you know _everything_ , brat!" Jiraiya almost bumped his forehead on Obito's. His expression was more frightening than ever, but agony was shining deep in his eyes. "You think I didn't want to rip that asshole into pieces when I learned these things? My motive for wanting to kill him is _much stronger_ than you can imagine!"

"But I couldn't. Danzo is someone to be reckoned with, and so is Root! Yes, you're powerful, and with your Mangekyo Sharingan you might succeed in killing him, but how about after that? Are you going to be a missing-nin too and go away? What about Naruto then? What about Sasuke? Rin?"

"Do you think Danzo would be stupid enough not to leave any fallback? Once he dies, his subordinates are not prepared to give up that easily. The most serious consequence will be Konoha being divided and weakened, which will create an opportunity for other villages to take advantage of. It's been only fourteen years after the Third Shinobi War, and twelve after the Kyuubi Attack... We finally get some peace now, and no longer have to send the next generation to the battlefield so early, and get them killed... Do you want to destroy all these just because of your personal grudge?"

"What about Kakashi then?!" Obito shouted back. "Does he deserve to be abandoned? For the sake of the integrity and strength of the village... Isn't he a member of Konoha, too? Shouldn't he also be protected by the village? Why must he be the one to sacrifice... _Just like Itachi!_ "

Jiraiya's eyes widened slightly. The anger on his face disappeared, and was replaced by realization and exhaustion.

"You did know it," he whispered, loosening his grip on Obito's neck. "You did... know everything."

"Now you should understand that I also have much stronger motive than you think for wanting to kill Danzo," Obito sneered coldly.

The hair around Obito's body loosened. Jiraiya raised his hands and rubbed his face.

"I do understand now," he spoke in a low voice after a while, his face still buried in his palms, his voice dull and tired. "But I still have to stop you."

"That's the reality, Obito. The dark side is always there, it's just a matter of whether you know it or not, and how much. There are too many miserable things, too many people suffering, while we can't do nothing about them for various reasons. Kakashi, Itachi, and ourselves are only microcosms of it. This is the shinobi world."

" _Such a world is wrong_."

Jiraiya jerked his head up, stunned. Obito was staring at him; the Uchiha was no longer as emotional as before, but dangerous obstinacy was now gleaming in his Sharingan, provoking strong uneasiness arising in the elder man's heart.

"Such a world is wrong," Obito repeated. His voice was steady, but beneath the calm surface there was a raging undercurrent, threatening to erupt at any moment and turn into a huge wave that swept everything. "If they're desperate, then I'll protect them; if they're abandoned, then I'll bring them back; if they're sacrificed, then I'll defeat the culprit who made them a sacrifice. "

" _If that's not the reality, then I'll crush the so-called reality!_ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some background information about Itachi and Obito:  
> After the event of Kakashi being imprisoned, Obito almost broke up with the Uchiha. He moved out from the compound and started to live in the Hatake's old house with Kakashi. He kept getting on well with Itachi and Shisui, but seldom communicated with other clansmen.   
> When the relationship between Konoha and Uchiha worsened, Fugaku decided to mount the coup, but he excluded Obito from the plan because he thought Obito was too loyal to Konoha. When Danzo ordered Itachi to kill all Uchihas, Sandaime managed to convince him to spare Obito because he knew nothing about it.  
> On the night of Uchiha massacre, Obito was at home with Naruto, but he somehow felt the weird atomsphere. Thinking of Itachi's strange behaviour after Shisui's death, he felt upset and went to the compound, just in time to catch Itachi who was about to leave. Obito then managed to pump the truth out of Itachi. He was furious and decided to kill Danzo immediately, but Itachi stopped him and pleaded him to take care of Sasuke.
> 
> Next chapter: Obito went on a journey, Kyoko gave him a test, and Kakashi was visited by a stranger.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	13. Key and Lock

_-Sensei, I'm a little worried about my students._

_-You mean Kakashi? After the battle of Kannabi Bridge, he should have opened his heart. Although it's impossible for him to be easygoing all of a sudden, at least he's no longer aloof like before, isn't him?_

_-Actually, I'm talking about Obito._

_-Obito? You mean that he moved out of the Uchiha compound and broke up with his clan? To be honest I don't think it's a serious problem, if you ask me. He was never close to them anyway, except a few friends, and after what happened previously, his relationship with them has dropped to a freezing point. He looks happy to live with Kakashi now, and even if some bad guys want to harm them, you as the Fourth Hokage will definitely be able to protect them, right?_

_-Of course I'll do everything I can to protect them, even to sacrifice my life. But no, that's not what I'm worried about. It's... Obito's mental state._

_-Mental state...?_

_-That boy is too kind-hearted. He always wants to help and protect everyone. This is certainly right, but... he treasures his teammates too much. I'm afraid that once this kind of feeling has developed to the extreme, it's not all good for him. The life of a ninja is always accompanied by darkness and death, and no one can predict what will happen in the future. And what if- I mean_ if _\- one day Obito finds that the world he loves so much is actually not that bright and beautiful, and even turns out to be the root cause of the suffering of his beloved one... I don't know what he will do then._

_-Minato, did you..._

_-You know it, Jiraiya-sensei. You can't wrap fire in paper. Now I've become Hokage, and I've been able to understand the difficulties that Sandaime has faced, but... Kakashi is my student. Sakumo-san was a shinobi that I have always respected._

_-...What do you wanna do?_

_-Nothing, just like when you learned everything. Being in this position, I must consider more than just my students. I can't, and am no longer in a position to, claim to be the person who cares about them the most and puts them first in everything. I only hope-_

* * *

_"I only hope that Obito can become the key that makes Kakashi open his heart completely and do what I failed to do; and Kakashi can become the last lock on Obito's sanity, the one who can pull him back in time when he's too impulsive."_

Minato's voice echoed in Jiraiya's ears. The casual conversation between him and his student more than a decade ago had suddenly arisen in his mind. Wide-experienced and legendary shinobi as he was, Jiraiya still couldn't help but feel a blend of emotions in his heart.

His student was so intelligent and insightful, but had died too young. Since Minato was gone, he should certainly take over the responsibility to protect and guide the two kids.

"Listen to me, Obito," Jiraiya said, putting his hands on the young man's shoulders. He looked straight into the Uchiha's eye and spoke seriously. "The situation is not yet beyond retrieval. Danzo's power is too strong to be easily eradicated for now, but he's not invincible. There're still Sarutobi-sensei, and me. It's not impossible to prove Kakashi's innocence, which should be our first priority now."

He lowered his eyes slightly before quickly looking up again. "For some reason... this cannot be done by my own hands. But I hope you can do it. I believe you can do it."

Obito stared at Jiraiya. He still looked stubborn and unshakable, but the dangerous obstinacy in his eye had faded as the white-haired man spoke, and the bright red pupil finally returned to the normal black.

"Fine, but one day I'll make the asshole pay. What should I do now?" He asked in a low voice.

"That's exactly what I want to ask you," breathing a sigh of relief inwardly, Jiraiya put down his hands. He walked over and leaned against the windowsill, his arms crossed. "After hearing what Crane and I have told you, what's your decision now?"

Obito fell silent.

"I'm going to find Kakashi," he looked at Jiraiya again and replied after a while. This time, his voice was truly calm, but more determined than any time before. "I haven't learned the whole truth yet. I want to know what Kakashi has gone through since he parted from his squad. I want to hear him speak his mind, and tell me why he refuses to return to the village. I believe that you and Sandaime can prove his innocence. I will dispel his misgivings and let him know that there're still many people missing him and waiting for his return."

" _I'll definitely bring Kakashi back to Konoha._ "

Hearing the last words of the black-haired jonin, Jiraiya opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something; but he kept silent at last.

Obito didn't notice the crux in his words. He was talking about proving Kakashi's innocence, but _not_ bringing the Hatake back to Konoha. In Obito's mind, the two things should naturally be equal, but Jiraiya knew that's not true.

However, he couldn't explain everything to Obito- not yet, at least.

"If so," Jiraiya said noncommittally in the end. "Perhaps you'll need this."

He took a slip of folded paper out of his pocket, and threw it to Obito. Obito grabbed it and threw him a puzzled look before unfolding the paper. It was an extremely scribbled map; fortunately, there was a line underneath that gave a concise instruction.

"Memorize it, and then burn the map. The location of Otonashi no Sato is not allowed to be permanently written down," Jiraiya said.

"Otonashi no Sato...?"

"The black market, gray area, refuge of criminals... call it whatever you want. Find a tavern called 'Ring' when you arrive. Its landlady, Kyoko, is the most capable info broker there, and one of those who have been looking after Kakashi in the past years. She is the only source that you can possibly get Kakashi's whereabouts from."

Obito's eye lit up.

"There's still about half a month until the Chunin Exam starts. Hopefully you'll be able to return before then- you won't want to miss your students' exam, will you? During the period, I'll stay in Konoha and keep an eye on the kids for you."

"Thank you, Jiraiya-sensei," said Obito. From the moment he left for Crane's house, he finally showed his first smile tonight. "I really appreciate your help."

"Don't mention it. I'm used to clean up the mess for you kids," Jiraiya grunted. He turned around and jumped up on the windowsill, "get your things here done as soon as possible, then you can set out. And one more thing..."

With one hand on the top edge of the window frame, the Toad Sage looked back at Obito.

"It's about Itachi. You don't need to worry about him. He's now going undercover in a group of missing-nin, monitoring their movements, and I'm responsible for passing messages between Konoha and him. I won't let him have any trouble."

* * *

It was a small teahouse in a nameless town far away from Konoha.

"Finally, I found you, Sukea-san," the stranger in a black cloak sat down across from the brown-haired man. He had black hair that hung over half of his face, a goatee and dark eyes.

"Oh?" Putting down his teacup, the young travelling artist looked up at the uninvited interlocutor with a gentle, confused smile. "Pardon me for being rude, but... do we know each other?"

"Haha... no. This is our first meeting," the man chuckled, but there was no humor on his face or in his voice. "But I'm here just for you."

"Wow," Sukea rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I didn't expect that someone would come specifically for me. I really don't think I'm that famous." He lowered his hand, "so mister, what kind of painting do you want? A portrait? For yourself or-"

"I don't have much time, so how about we stop beating around the bush and just get right to the point?" The man, however, interrupted Sukea. He studied the young man before him, his gaze lingering on the striking purple makeup for a moment before meeting those gray eyes again. "I come here to see you for something about a man you know. He was the former commander of Black Ops of the Hidden Tide Village, Aoshi Fujiwara. Or maybe I should call him another name that you're more familiar with, which he has used since he became a missing-nin, _Suzuki Teruhiko_."

The smile on Sukea's face disappeared.

"Teruhiko is no longer in this world," he said dryly. "He's dead."

"Nor very surprising, actually," the man shurgged. "No one had heard about him for many years, after all. What's the cause of death?"

"I'm under no obligation to tell you."

"Fine... forget about it," the man scratched his chin. "Anyway, it's you that I'm looking for."

"Me?"

"As his only disciple, you can't be ignorant of your master's past, can you?" The man rested his elbows on the tabletop and leaned slightly forward, gazing at Sukea appraisingly. "He was a war hero in the Second Shinobi War, having fought alongside the famous _Konoha's White Fang_. After the war ended, he could have been elected as the next head of Hidden Tide Village, but his competitor had used despicable means to frame him, and murdered his family. In his anger, he took revenge, killed his enemy's wife and elder son, and fled the Nation of Tide. He then changed his name and made a clean break with his past."

"Ten years ago, you appeared in Otonashi no Sato and began to carry out missions through the recommendation of Kyoko, the info broker." He pointed in Sukea's direction, "although you never talked about your background, it could be clearly seen from your swordsmanship and taijutsu that you're his disciple. You were very active in the following years, but suddenly disappeared one day; only recently, when people had almost forgotten about you, you reappeared as a traveling artist and started to wander around the world."

"It seems meaningless for me to deny what you said since you have investigated so well. What do you want?"

"I come to offer you a wonderful opportunity to revenge for your master," the man narrowed his eyes and lowered his voice. He took out a forehead protector from his pocket and gently placed it on the table. The iron piece was carved with curling waves, the very symbol of the Hidden Tide Village.

"After Teruhiko defected, his foe successfully became the new head of Tide. During these years, he continued to grasp power in his hands and became more and more autocratic. Now that he is old and his days are numbered, he plans to force others to agree to elect his younger son as his successor, making his family monopolize the village."

"We can't stand him anymore," the man clenched his fists and his tone became violent. "We decide to mount a coup; we must kill him at all costs. Everything is almost ready, but there's still a difficult problem."

"What is it?" Sukea raised his eyebrow.

"It's not for nothing that the man became the head of Tide. He's a despicable person, but also a powerful shinobi. Moreover, he's always guarded by one of the strongest soldiers in our village." The man answered with a chagrined look. "I'm afraid we won't be able to take him down with current manpower. If we fail this time, we'll definitely be purged, and never have another chance in the future. Therefore..."

He once again looked at Sukea with eager and pleading eyes. "As Teruhiko's disciple, you can definitely infiltrate into his residence without being noticed and assassinate him. Once he's dead, the coup will be half successful, and the dark clouds hanging over our village for so long will finally vanish. I know this is an abrupt request, but please help us!" He pressed his hands on both legs and bowed his head deeply. 

There was a long silence, then the man finally heard a soft sigh.

"I need to do some preparation," the young man said. "Is it okay to depart tomorrow?"

"You agree to help us?" the man raised his head with surprise and joy. "Th-that's awesome! I don't know what to say to show my gratitude-"

"Let's save those words for after the success." Sukea stood up and slung the painting equipment aside over his shoulder. "I'll meet you at the eastern exit of the town tomorrow morning at six thirty. It's the closest way to Tide from there, isn't it?"

"Y-yes!"

"See you tomorrow then." Sukea said with a brief nod. He was about to leave the teahouse, but suddenly stopped. "I haven't had a chance to ask... What's your name?" He asked without looking back.

An odd and meaningful smile spread over the man's face as he heard this.

" _Yura_ ," he replied. "My name is Yura."

* * *

Two days after the conversation with Jiraiya, Rin came to the Hatake's old house to bid Obito farewell.

"I'm leaving, Rin. Naruto and the others will be counting on you and Jiraiya-sensei for now," Obito said. The black-haired jonin had totally changed his attire, so that he wouldn't be easily recognized as Konoha shinobi or an Uchiha.

Rin sighed disappointedly and dropped her head. "If the hospital were not shorthanded right now, I would definitely be going with you... Forget about it." She shook her head, took out a new handmade first aid kit from her pouch, and carefully placed it in the Uchiha's hand.

"Obito, please give it to Kakashi for me. I hope he still remembers those days which three of us spent together."

Obito looked down at the medical kit in his hand. Then he looked up again at Rin. The latter looked haggard with bloodshot eyes; maybe it's because she had stayed up late for two nights making the kit, or for some other reason, which Obito couldn't be sure.

He clenched the small bag slightly.

"No problem!" After a moment of silence, Obito spoke in an almost deliberately bright tone. He gave a thumb-up to Rin with a wide grin on his face. "Rest assured, I'll get it to Kakashi intact! If that idiot dares to say he's forgotten those old days, I'll beat him up, drag him back here and make him apologize to-"

Rin suddenly stepped forward and hugged Obito tightly. The black-haired Uchiha abruptly stopped, and his hands froze in mid-air. Caught off guard, he turned his eye to the right and looked at the brown hair brushing against his cheek.

"Take care of yourself, Obito..." he heard Rin whispering in his ear. Obito hadn't heard such a fragile and choked voice from the always strong and calm Rin for a long time. "Keep safe, both of you."

Obito waved goodbye to Rin and teleported himself to the location indicated on the map. After an hour of searching around, he finally set foot on Otonashi no Sato by dusk.

Even though he was not in Konoha uniform, the missing left eye and the scarred face still made Obito very recognizable. In order not to attract any attention, he transformed into a different appearance and wrapped himself up in a dark cloak from head to toe.

Pulling the hood a little lower, Obito secretly observed the surroundings. He didn't like this small village: It was too quiet, but not peaceful at all. In every dark corner, there seemed to be people making shady deals, brewing plots, or peeping at passers-by. Although fighting was not allowed here, the tension in the air had never dropped away in the slightest.

However, only by coming here could he possibly find out about Kakashi.

Speeding up his pace, Obito turned into a narrow alley according to the directions given by Jiraiya before he had left. He stopped in front of the small tavern and pulled the paper door open after a brief hesitation.

Inside the tavern was a little livelier than outside on the street. Obito walked straight to the counter to meet the landlady in a purple kimono, who was holding a pipe with a relaxed look on her face.

"You seem to be a new face here, my customer. First time to the village?" Blowing a ring of smoke, Kyoko looked askance at the stranger and spoke lazily. She explicitly scrutinized the young man in front of her with the shrewd eyes of a merchant, as if assessing how much she could get out of him. "So, how may I help you?"

"I'm here to inquire about Hatake Kakashi," Obito answered, lowering his volume to a level that only both of them could hear it.

Hearing these words, the corners of Kyoko's lips were still curling up, but the smile in her eyes had faded significantly, replaced by a hint of caution and hostility. Seeing this, Obito said nothing, but instead dipped his finger into the cup of sake next to him, and then drew a pattern on the counter.

It's his Mangekyo Sharingan, Kamui.

Kyoko stared at the pattern for a moment.

"Come with me," then she came out from behind the counter and led the way upstairs. "Let's talk somewhere else."

* * *

The two made their way to the end of the corridor on the second floor. Kyoko pushed open a door. After Obito had stepped inside, she followed him, closed the door behind her, and set a privacy barrier on it.

A soft _poof!_ sounded behind her. When Kyoko turned around, before her was already the Konoha jonin who had dispelled the Transformation Jutsu.

"Uchiha Obito. So that's what Jiraiya meant, isn't it?" She sighed. "It's only been half a month since then, and he has sent you here."

She gestured for Obito to sit down. Obito did as he was told; his eyes followed Kyoko's movement, and as soon as the woman sat down opposite him, he immediately spoke eagerly. "You're Kyoko-san, aren't you? Please tell me where Kakashi is now, I need to know it!"

Kyoko wasn't surprised. "Unfortunately," she took a puff on her pipe. "I don't know, either. I never pry into the boy's life unless necessary. Here is his only regular stronghold, but he doesn't come back very often. The last time he came here was about a month ago, and the next day he left with the missing-nin from Kiri, Zabuza and Haku. I think you already know what happened after that."

Although Obito had expected things wouldn't go smoothly, such a reply inevitably disappointed him. Still, he quickly pulled himself together again- he wasn't here simply to ask about Kakashi's whereabouts.

"Then," he looked directly into the amber eyes of the kunoichi, his tone firm and sincere. "Please tell me what Kakashi has gone through eleven years ago, after he became separated from his teammates in the Nation of Moon."

Kyoko was about to lift the pipe to her mouth but paused. She raised her eyebrow and seized Obito up. "I don't provide information for free," she said. "You have to pay the price."

"As long as I can afford it," Obito said without thinking.

Kyoko chuckled. "Don't promise so quickly, or you'll regret it."

"I'm not sure if I'll regret paying the price, but if I leave here with nothing, I'll definitely regret it."

"Since you're so determined, I'll be kind to you and give you two options." Kyoko exhaled the smoke. She looked at Obito with some ambiguous emotions in her eyes. "This first one is- leave Konoha."

"...What?!"

"I said, leave Konoha. Become a missing-nin. If you can leave everything you have behind and make a clean break with Konoha, I'll not only tell you everything about what happened to Kakashi, but even call him back for you immediately. He hates Konoha, that's true, but he still cares about you and the girl called Rin, especially you. As long as you are no longer a Konoha shinobi, the barrier between you two will naturally disappear. With your strength plus my network as a back-up, there's no need to worry about Konoha hunting you."

If it's on another occasion that Obito learned Kakashi still missed him, and in fact was not like what he had shown in the Nation of Wave, he might have overjoyed. However, there was no happiness on his face now. The black-haired jonin lowered his eye, staring at the piece of tatami between the two.

"What about the other option then?" A moment later, he asked in a low voice.

Kyoko narrowed her eyes.

"The second option," her voice suddenly went cold. "Is to gouge out your right eye and give it to me. A Mangekyo Sharingan is priceless even in the black market, so I can make big bucks selling it. Don't worry, as a medic nin, I can certainly transplant a pair of ordinary eyes for you afterwards."

Obito inhaled deeply and clenched his fists. His lips compressed into a thin line. Without a word, the Uchiha raised his hand and reached for his own right eye-

"Are you serious?!" Slapping Obito's hand away in time, Kyoko looked at him incredulously. "I never said you had to make a choice. You can just give up and leave!"

"But I've said I'd never leave here with nothing," Obito answered in a firm voice. "I met Kakashi in the Nation of Wave, but I still knew nothing about what had happened to him. Even if I wanted to said something, I didn't know where to start, and what I could utter was only some empty nonsense. I hated myself for being so powerless. The next time I see him, I'll definitely not allow this to happen again. If I don't even understand his pain, how I can bring him back to Konoha?"

"Then you can also choose the first option," Kyoko said. "Is leaving Konoha that unacceptable to you? Why on earth are you so loyal to the village? Now that you've known what happened in the Nation of Moon, you should understand that that Konoha is not as bright as you think it is. Let alone that you're an _Uchiha_..."

She didn't finish her words, but Obito had heard the implication.

"You're right," he replied calmly. "What happened to Kakashi and Itachi did disillusion and disappoint me, and I'm not totally uncomplaining, but Konoha is also the village that my sensei and his wife have sacrificed their lives to protect. Rin, Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and many others who are important to me still live there. I can't irresponsibly leave them behind and go away, even for Kakashi."

"But still, that's Mangekyo Sharingan. You want to become Hokage, don't you?"

"My sensei Namikaze Minato didn't have any bloodline limit, but he was still Yondaime. If I can't become Hokage without Sharingan, I'm simply not good enough." Obito grinned at Kyoko confidently, "escaping won't do anything good, and now I have more reasons to stay in the village. Only by becoming Hokage can I change all of these at its root, so that similar tragedies won't happen to others. And I think that's what Kakashi wishes, too!"

Kyoko seemed to be touched by his words. She stared silently at Obito, who looked her back straight in the eye.

"You haven't seen each other for eleven years, but you still speak like you know him well," after a long time, she finally said.

"Something never changes over time," Obito shrugged.

Kyoko's eyes widened slightly. As if reminded of something, she shook her head and gave a resigned smile. Her expression softened completely.

"To some extent, you and Kakashi are really alike," she sighed and relaxed her shoulders. "Fine! You passed."

"...Huh?"

"How could I get real serious, baka," Kyoko changed her sitting position to a more causal one. She pointed at Obito with her pipe and winked slyly. "If I really make you gouge your own eye out, how should I explain it to Kakashi later? Not to mention Jiraiya, who will probably come straight at me and crush my small tavern with his giant toad. Just a small joke."

Obito couldn't help but roll his eye. "...That's not funny!"

"Kakashi rarely tells me about his days in Konoha. The few times he brought up the past, he was always talking about you," Kyoko 's voice suddenly became very gentle. She looked at Obito fondly, "I've done some research myself, and been very curious about you, Uchiha Obito. I don't hate a kid like you at all, so I decided to answer your question truthfully."

"Really?" Obito's eyes lit up, and the depression of being tricked was thrown out of his mind in the blink of an eye. "Thank you, Kyoko-san!"

"Don't mention it," Kyoko waved her hand. She took another puff on her pipe and exhaled, lost in her thought for a moment before speaking again. "Let's get to the point... To explain what happened to Kakashi after he left his teammates, I need to introduce a man first. He's Teruhiko, a missing-nin and an old acquaintance of Kakashi's father, Hatake Sakumo, which is all you need to know for now. I've known him... for many years as a old friend, and he had often asked for information from me, including Kakashi's."

"The missing-nin who fought Konoha shinobi in the Nation of Moon was actually hired from the black market here, so I certainly knew about it. At that time, Teruhiko happened to visit me, and I happened to mention the mission to him. But I didn't expect him to be so concerned with it, and think about it for the whole night. The next morning, he waved me goodbye and hurried to the Nation of Moon, saying that he had a bad feeling."

"Seven days later, Teruhiko returned, carrying a wounded and unconscious child on his back. That was Kakashi. He was badly injured and his chakra was almost exhausted. If Teruhiko came to me a while later, I'm afraid we wouldn't even be able to save his life," Kyoko sighed. "I tried my best to treat him, but he still had a high fever caused by the inflammation of his wounds and began to murmur from time to time. From those words, we managed to piece together what had happened."

"Teruhiko's expression became horrible. I hadn't seen him so furious in many years. He almost wanted to turn straight back to the Nation of Moon and kill the three Konoha shinobi who had carried on the mission with Kakashi. I asked him what had happened, and he told me that Kakashi had fought six ninja of jonin level alone, and managed to kill two of them by the time he arrived. But still, he had been outnumbered and run out of chakra."

Kyoko paused. She bit her lip and looked at Obito.

"Facing the enemies who had surrounded him and tried to catch him alive, Kakashi once again used Chidori. If Teruhiko hadn't get there in time... he would have thrust the lightning _into his own chest_."

Obito felt his heart aching. He raked the tatami hard with his nails with a loud rustle before clenching his fists, his knuckles white.

 _Indeed_ , he thought. That exactly sounded like a decision Kakashi would have made. If he was caught, he would have become evidence of Konoha's spying on the mines himself due to his fame. But if he was dead, there would be opportunity for Konoha to deny the mission, and even accuse the Nation of Moon of deliberately murdering him.

It was indeed like Kakashi who put the lives of his companions above the mission, but put his own one below it.

The conclusion choked Obito. He almost wanted to beat Kakashi up for it, to stop him from so stubborn and stupid; but meanwhile he was more than willing to hold the Hatake in his arms, heal his wounds, drive away his despair, and tell him that he would never abandon him like others.

"We settled Kakashi here- right in this room," Kyoko's voice brought Obito back from his thoughts. He couldn't help but look around, trying to picture the silver-haired boy lying here eleven years ago. "His fever was gone soon after, but he didn't regain consciousness until the third night. After waking up, he decided to leave immediately despite his severe injuries, to rejoin his companions and return to Konoha."

"Teruhiko and I, of course, stopped him. But the kid was obstinate and refused to lie down to recuperate. Once we were occupied with our own business, he would soon tried to sneak away. Hence Teruhiko got annoyed, sealed Kakashi's chakra and set up a barrier to lock him here. When he finally released Kakashi, it's already one month and a half later, and the wanted order issued by Konoha had been circulated to other villages, including Otonashi no Sato."

"Wait a minute," Obito suddenly said. His expression was strange, as if he had realized something, but couldn't believe it yet. "You just said... one month and a half?"

"Yep."

"But that's too long," Obito stared at Kyoko, unconsciously raising his volume. "Usually it takes 20 days at most for a ninja to regain mobility with the help of medical ninjutsu. A ninja who lost contact with his teammates during a mission failed to return to the village or send any message back... You counldn't be unaware of what this would lead to. Unless-"

"You're right," Kyoko interrupted Obito. She calmly looked at the Uchiha, her tone unhurried, as if she was just stating an inconsequential fact. "Teruhiko did this _on purpose_. He had intentionally kept Kakashi here for so long in order for Konoha to make the kid a missing-nin."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I guess some of you may expect Obito to kill Danzo soon after what he has said in the last chapter... Well, if so, I'm sorry to make you disappointed, but I've explained his thoughts in the conversation between him and Kyoko, so hopefully you'll understand after reading this chapter. Obito doesn't agree with Jiraiya, and he'll certainly stick to his words, but in a much less radical way than in canon. He didn't meet Madara and Kakashi has not died like Rin in canon, after all.
> 
> Next chapter: Two unexpected vistors brought Obito unexpected news.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	14. Stabborn Fools

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Depiction of suicide.

The room fell into silence after Kyoko uttered these words. Obito stared at the woman in front of him with a look of disbelief on his face, as if trying to tell what she said was truth or a joke.

 _That's ridiculous,_ he thought. Half a minute ago, he was grateful that the man named Teruhiko had saved both Kakashi's life and the mission, then he was told that the very man had prevented Kakashi from returning to Konoha in time, which made Kakashi a missing-nin, and finally resulted in the eleven years that they were separated.

 _From an info broker in the black market, Danzo's men heard about the recent situation of the missing-nins._ Jiraiya's words suddenly echoed in Obito's ears.

Info broker. Black market.

"...It's you," he said slowly. "The one who told Root that Kakashi was still alive and had not been caught by those missing-nin was none other than you."

"You're more perceptive than I thought," Kyoko smiled. "That's right. I did follow Teruhiko's intruction and tell the people from Konoha about Kakashi."

"Why?" It's even more unacceptale for Obito to hear her admit it so easily. "Isn't he an old friend of Sakumo-san? You two obviously knew that..."

Kyoko didn't reply immediately. She lowered her eyes, put the mouthpiece of the pipe between her red lips and took a deep puff.

"Men are all stubborn fools," her voice sounded quietly as smoke filled the air. "Once he has made a decision, no one can change his mind."

"As Kakashi's best friend, you must have heard of his father's death. Teruhiko had long had the idea of taking Kakashi away, but Konoha was the kid‘s hometown, after all. However, what happened to Kakashi then was almost a repeat of White Fang's tragedy, which made Terushiko can no longer stand by and watch. As long as Kakashi was still in Konoha, in ANBU, he would have to continue to carry out missions, and no one could make sure that similar thing would not happen a third time. This time he had saved Kakashi, but there was no guarantee that he would be able to arrive timely every time in the future."

"Teruhiko had completely lost trust in Konoha. In his opinion, Konoha was not only unable to protect Kakashi, but sooner or later would lead that child to destruction. So he decided to pull Kakashi out of that damned place before it's too late."

"That's not true!" Obito argued. It made him somewhat uncomfortable that Kyoko said Konoha was a _damned place_. "Kakashi still has many friends in Konoha, and he has me! I can protect him!"

"No, you can't," Kyoko gently refuted his words. "Maybe you can now, but at that time you were only a fifteen-year-old boy who had just been promoted to jonin. If Namikaze Minato had been still alive, maybe he could have protected Kakashi, but he had died in the Kyuubi Attack by then. Just imagine: if next time, something like this occurs again, and although Kakashi manages to return to Konoha alive, he's pushed into the same desperate situation like his father had been. How can he face the pressure and accusations from everyone?"

"I told you, he still has me! I will stay with him, support him, and never give up on him no matter what!"

"Back then _Sakumo also had Kakashi_ , but he still committed suicide," Kyoko's tone was still soft, but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. "Sometimes things aren't as simple as you think, Obito-chan."

Obito couldn't say anything in retort.

"Anyway, let me finish the story first," Kyoko let out a sigh. "Despite learning that he had been made a missing-nin, Kakashi was still not totally resigned. He thought that since the mission had been successfully completed, all he had to do was to return to Konoha and clear himself of the suspicion of betraying the village. The night the seal was dispelled, he snuck away from here. I thought Teruhiko would stop Kakashi, but he didn't, and instead just quietly followed the boy."

"After that they didn't go back to Otonashi no Sato. But three weeks later, I received a letter from Teruhiko saying that Kakashi had changed his mind and no longer wanted to return to Konoha."

Obito held his breath. "What happened?" He asked in a hoarse voice.

"You've already guessed it, haven't you?" Kyoko asked rhetorically. "Kakashi met two Root agents right after he crossed the border of the Nation of Fire. When they saw him, they immediately started attacking him, ignoring whatever he said and only wanting to kill him on the spot. To save himself, Kakashi had to fight back; he used Chidori as a deterrent, hoping that by doing so he could stop them for a while, so that they would listen to his explanation. But one of the Root rushed straight towards him. While being pierced through the chest, he also wrapped his limbs tightly around Kakashi, leaving the kid no chance to escape." 

"At the cost of his own life, he created the opportunity for his companion to attack Kakashi from behind. If Teruhiko had not followed Kakashi at that time... Perhaps their plan would have been successful."

A sharp chill running down Obito's spine, spreading through the veins to his limbs, all the way to his cold fingertips. He remembered when he was called to identify the corpse; the message brought by the messenger hawk didn't give details, and he had thought that he and Rin were asked to identify Kakashi's body. The feeling that everything seemed to cave in on top of him was fresh in his mind even now. Although later he learned that Kakashi had become a missing-nin, which wasn't much better, after all, he was still alive.

"I've told you everything I can." Kyoko's voice brought Obito back from his memory. "Now, what are you going to do?"

"To help Kakashi to prove his innocence, of course," the black-haired jonin replied without thinking twice. He thumped the floor in front of him. "Since I've known that he was forced to leave Konoha and kill that Root, how can I let him continue to be treated as a traitor and murderer? Not only me, there're also Rin, Jiraiya-sensei, Tenzou; if all of us work together, we'll be able to clear his name, and then he can return to Konoha without misgivings!"

His resolute gaze met Kyoko's one with mixed feelings. The retired kunoichi opened her mouth hesitantly, but just sighed softly in the end. "So you still want to find Kakashi, right?"

"Sure. But before that, I'd like to meet that Teruhiko-san first," Obito answered. "I want to thank him for rescuing and taking care of Kakashi, and also convince him to help. He is the only one who can provide enough evidence to prove Kakashi's innocence, so that those who wish to prevent him from returning to Konoha will be reduced to silence. Kyoko-san, can you tell me where he lives?"

Kyoko was silent for a moment.

"I'm afraid I can't," she whispered. "Because... Teruhiko has died a year ago."

"...He's dead?" Obito was stunned. "Was it... due to some disease?"

"No. He... _ended his own life._ "

The succession of shocking facts made Obito speechless. Kyoko lowered her head and covered her eyes with her hand.

"I've said it," her fingers tightened around the pipe, the knuckles white. "Men... are all stubborn fools."

She said it calmly, as if she was commenting on someone irrelevant. If not for some slight trembling in her voice, she even sounded a little apathetic. 

But Obito suddenly realized one thing- For Kyoko, Teruhiko might be much more than a so-called "old friend".

There was a silence. After a long time, Kyoko finally regained her composure and put her hand down.

"Sorry, I was being frivolous," she gave a sad smile to Obito. "Stay here if you'd like to, and I'll search for Kakashi. As soon as I have news of him, I'll let you know."

"I heartily appreciate your help, Kyoko-san," Obito said gratefully and bowed.

As he spoke, Kyoko had stood up and was heading for the door. Hearing his words, she stopped and looked back at the Uchiha. Her eyes curled up with some slight wrinkles at the corners.

"You're welcome. Knowing that there're still someone missing the kid, and he's not alone, I'm really glad."

* * *

Obito didn't sleep well that night.

He wasn't sent back to the past to relive what had happened, but it felt like he had been chasing someone desperately in the dream. He kept running, running, trying his best to reach out and touch the person ahead, but there was always a distance between him and the other one.

They were so close, yet so far away from each other.

The sound of hurried footsteps woke him up. It was still dark outside, and the time couldn't be later than four in the morning. Obito got up quickly, grabbed a kunai from under his pillow, and activated his Sharingan.

The door was drew open with a jerk. Obito tightened his grip on the Kunai, only to find that stood outside the room was Kyoko with a worried look on her face. The landlady was wearing a sky-blue haori over her pajamas, with her long hair hanging loose over her shoulders. She seemed to have just woken up, too.

"I've got news about Kakashi," she said. "And he's in danger now."

"What's going on?" Obito asked anxiously as the lingering sleepiness disappeared without a trace. But it wasn't Kyoko who answered him.

"It may be better for us to make the explanation."

Hearing the familiar voice, Obito's eye widened in surprise. Kyoko walked into the room; following her was a man carrying a giant blade on his back, and a teenager in dark green haori.

"I really didn't expect us to meet again so soon," the Demon of the Hidden Mist greeted him in a not so friendly tone. "Uchiha Obito."

The four sat down in a circle with a map in the middle. As Kyoko turned on the light, Obito finally noticed that both Zabuza and Haku looked travel-worn and weary, their clothes dusty.

"...That's it, basically." Kyoko said after briefly describing the connection between Teruhiko and Hidden Tide Village to Obito. "After Kakashi became a missing-nin, in order to avoid the pursuit of Konoha, he used an alias at my suggestion, disguised himself and acted as a brand new identity. The Sharingan and Chidori were too conspicuous to be used, so he began to improve his swordsmanship and taijutsu under Teruhiko's guidance."

"Six years ago, Teruhiko's old foes targeted Kakashi. Teruhiko went to rescue him; they won after a bloody battle, but at a considerable cost. Since then Kakashi understood that his false identity would sooner or later arouse suspicion, so he gave up that name and regained his own one." She looked at Obito, "it's until then that you bagan to hear about him again."

"When Zabuza-san and I set out for Otonashi no Sato, Kakashi-san and his group were following this road to the Nation of Tide," Haku's finger slowly traced over the line on the map. "If they didn't pace up or slow down, they'll probably arrive at Hidden Tide Village in five days from today. However, the enemy may not wait until they enter the village, so they may attack Kakashi-san at any time."

"Hold on," said Obito. "If the head does govern the Hidden Tide Village with a heavy hand, it's possible that shinobi from Tide are discontented and want to stage a coup, isn't it? What if they really just want Kakashi to help them?"

"If they're indeed from Tide, of course that's possible," Zabuza said. "But it's not that simple. The one who's leading the operation is actually the Nation of Wind- thus, _Sunagakure_. As for their intention, well, I'm afraid it's not just what the landlady has said, that they want to kill Kakashi. Most likely, what they want is the Sharingan."

Seeing the shocked expression on Obito's face, the missing-nin let out a sneer. "Seems your ally is not that friendly and honest."

"...I'm leaving now!" Obito jumped up and began to pack his bag quickly.

"What're you going to do?" Zabuza watched him.

"Do you even need to ask? Bringing Kakashi back, of course!" Obito said without looking up. "As long as I can find Kakashi, it's just a piece of cake to take him away from the battlefield with my Kamui!"

"I knew it," Zabuza shrugged. "You're a hot-headed fool."

"What?!" Obito stopped packing and glared at him in annoyance.

"He's warning you, Obito-chan," Kyoko suddenly said. Her face was serious and her amber eyes were fixed on the dark-haired jonin. "You should never use Kamui rashly."

"...Kyoko-san?" Obito was startled.

"Kakashi-san is a missing-nin," Haku said quietly. "Even if Suna does go after him, Konoha is in no position to interfere and stop them. If you, as a Konoha ninja, help him escape from or even fight against Suna shinobi, they'll definitely question Konoha about it. By then, Obito-san, you will be the one in trouble."

"The boy is right," Kyoko nodded. "Therefore, you absolutely can't expose your identity in front of those Suna shinobi."

Obito fell silent. He stared at the black gloves he was clutching tightly before putting them on his hands. Then he looked back at others. "Thank you all for the reminder, I'll be careful."

"Both of us will be back safely, I promise."

* * *

Kakashi dreamed of what happened one year ago.

It was a seemingly normal night. He was standing in a small yard in the countryside of the Nation of Frost, looking up at the moon. Not far behind him, the man who had saved him ten years ago and led him to the path of a missing-nin was leaning lazily against a pillar on the porch, pouring himself sake.

"Kakashi," Teruhiko suddenly asked as he shook the nearly empty bottle. "Have you ever hated me?"

His heart immediately clenched at the question. He didn't turn around or reply.

"If I had just let you go, you wouldn't have been forced to kill that Konoha shinobi, become a missing-nin, and parted company with your friends. At least you must have thought about it."

He remained silent.

"Being ignorant is not necessarily miserable, and the price of knowing the truth may even be longer suffering," Teruhiko let out a deep sigh. "Over the past few years, seeing you struggling with conflict and remorse all day long and never able to forgive yourself, I've also been wondering if I did the wrong thing in the first place."

"You're drunk," he finally whispered, no emotion in his voice. "If that's all you want to say, then just go to sleep now. I'm leaving tomorrow."

"Ha," Teruhiko chuckled. "Do you really think I called you all the way back just to chat with you? No, I actually want-"

The bottle dropped to the ground and rolled away.

" _-To see you one last time before I die._ "

He instantly smelt blood. He whirled around and saw the man curling on the floor, the tanto held in his hand pierced into his abdomen, up to the hilt.

The body lying in the blood was reflected in his shocked and mismatched eyes, his pupils dilated. It reminded him of _another figure_ from more than a decade ago. He froze there with his mind totally blank. He even seemed to hear his own heart beating violently as if it would collapse in the next second-

Until Teruhiko let go of the tanto, struggling to reach out to him with a blood-stained hand, he finally came back to reality. He rushed towards the man and knelt beside him, holding the hand tightly.

"...Why?" He heard his own voice, trembling badly.

"I've sworn to someone to... keep my mouth shut... about what he had told me, and if I... broke my vow, I wouldn't deserve to... die in my bed." Teruhiko strained to speak. When he opened his mouth, blood instantly streamed down the corners of his lips. "Now you... are strong enough, and I no longer... need to worry about you. It's time... for me to... fulfill the promise I should... have kept ten years ago."

"What about your revenge then? Just give it up? Your wife, your children..." He unconsciously raised his volume. Since the battle of Kannabi Bridge, he had not been so wrong-footed for many years.

Teruhiko's gaze slowly settled upon his own empty sleeve.

"Yeah. Perhaps it's... my only regret. But that's... what life is, so inexorable that... once you make a choice, you're destined... to give up something else. But I've never... regret saving you, or losing... this arm for you."

He was speechless, and could only tighten his grip on the man's hand.

Teruhiko gasped with difficulty. Vitality was draining from his body rapidly, and his face had turned ghastly pale. "There's... one last thing. I left something... to Kyoko. In the future... when you're bewildered... and don't know what to do, go to see her... and get those things. Hopefully they... can help you make the decision."

"...Don't be stupid," He averted his gaze and whispered. "I've already..."

"Don't say it... so early," the man pulled his hand out of his grip and made a hand seal. "You and I both know that-"

_Boom!!_

With a deafening bang, the Explosive Tags that had been set previously were detonated in full, and the house behind them was engulfed in flames in an instant.

"Here... is not your home. It's just your... temporary residence for the past... ten years. _The one who can give you a home_... is neither me nor Kyoko."

The fire was roaring. Beams fell to the ground and the walls tumbled down. Teruhiko once again took his hand. "Promise me... Kakashi. Live a good life. Leave yourself... some leeway. Try your best not to have... regrets, and never... make a decision that... may later make you feel remorse."

The voice became weaker. The hand slipped weakly out of his grasp.

"...I promise you," was the only thing he could say.

Hearing his promise, Teruhiko's knitted brows finally became smooth. A relieved expression appeared on his face.

" _Very good. Now... I can meet Sakumo-san with a clear conscience._ "

With that, the man who had played the role of his adoptive father and master for ten years, smiled and closed his eyes.

* * *

"......!"

Kakashi's eyes snapped open. He was sitting under a large tree, fully armed, with a thin army blanket over his legs.

"Sukea-san," said his fellow traveller, who was sitting on watch in front of the campfire, turning back to scrutinize his face. "You don't look well. Did you have a nightmare?"

Kakashi stared back at the other man. He tapped his fingers uneasily beneath the blanket as he struggled to resist the urge to cover the lower half of his face.

"No," closing his eyes, the brown-haired man replied dryly. "How long do we have to go?"

Hearing his question, the corners of Yura's lips curled up. The wavering firelight cast shadows on his face, making his smile looked a little eerie.

"Five days," he said. "In five days, we'll arrive at the Hidden Tide Village."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you may have noticed, Yura is actually a canon character. He was Sasori's sleeper agent, and was later used by Pein as a sacrifice for the Shapeshifting Jutsu.
> 
> Next chapter: Sukea met Tobi. (Yeah they finally met again!)  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	15. Sukea and Tobi

As the first rays of morning sun broke through the clouds, Obito stopped at a prominent cliff. He looked down at the lush, endless forest below, as well as a few winding paths hidden inside.

Taking out a scroll from his pouch, Obito took off his glove, bit his right thumb, and smeared the blood onto the spell in the scroll. " _Summoning Jutsu!_ "

From the smoke came brisk chirping. A brown ninhawk fluttered out of the smoke, landed on his outstretched arm and cocked its head to survey him curiously.

Before Obito had left, Kyoko gave him this scroll. According to her explanation, there was a modified Summoning Jutsu written on it, which would allow him to summon her ninhawk without having to sign a blood contract, in a one-time only situation. Thanks in large part to the help of these sharp-eyed birds, her intelligence network was able to be second to none in Otonashi no Sato.

"Er, hi, I'm Uchiha Obito, Kyoko-san's... um, friend," Obito said awkwardly as he met the ninhawk's eyes. He had only dealt with Kakashi's ninken and Minato's toads before, and wasn't sure if all summoned beasts knew how to speak, or at least could understand him. "For some reason I'd like you to help me track down Kakashi... or Sukea, you know him anyway, right? Please!"

The large bird spread its wings. It let out another shrill cry, kicked on his arms before flying off into the sky.

 _Can I count it as a success?_ Obito wondered. The expression on his face relaxed for a moment, but it soon became serious again.

There was another problem to be solved before he departed.

Through his conversation with Kyoko, now Obito was certain that what Kakashi had done in the Nation of Wave was only to let him stop getting involved with the Hatake, but not to genuinely become an enemy of him and Konoha. Nevertheless, if Kakashi was still not willing to cooperate with him this time, or simply snuck away as soon as he saw Obito, things would still be troublesome.

 _And I can't let those Suna shinobi recognize me..._ Sighing, Obito held out his hands.

Tomoes changed as he activated Kamui. Something fell out of the spiral rift into his hands- an odd orange mask with a spiral pattern focused around his right eye.

One summer a few years ago, he took Naruto and Sasuke to a festival in a town near Konoha, where he bought this in passing. He soon forgot about it, and the mask was left in Kamui's dimension. Obito had never thought it would come in handy on such an occasion.

"I'd better change my personality, and take an alias, too..." Muttering, Obito put the mask on his face. After adjusting it to the right place, he dropped his hands and stood still for a while. As several sparrows thought him was a motionless stone and landed carefreely on a nearby branch, the dark-haired man suddenly raised his arms high and shouted in a cheerful tone, "alright! _Tobi_ is going to save Sukea!"

To the sound of startled birds flying away, this newly created character jumped high before plunging into the sea of trees.

* * *

With his hands in the pockets of his coat, Sukea stood still, watching Yura whispering to two men dressed in ninja attire a few steps ahead. A dozen paces away in another direction stood two merchant-like men, both carrying huge rattan cases on their backs, giving off a smell of tung oil which was slightly pungent to him.

Half an hour ago, he and Yura rendezvoused with these four men on their way. The two ninjas wore the headbands of Tide, while the other two, according to them, were also reinforcements brought in by the coupists, just like Sukea. In case the head of Tide got suspicious, they disguised themselves as travelling merchants who had happened to hire the two ninjas as escorts to the village.

Sukea smiled and accepted the explanation without showing any suspicion- he didn't believe a single word from Yura since the beginning, anyway.

Concealment and deception were important skills to shinobi. Being a ninja for more than twenty years, he certainly wouldn't be that foolish to trust a stranger he had just met for the first time. Yura said they were going to assassinate the head of Tide, but in Sukea's opinion, it's more likely that the head planned to lure him to the village and kill him.

The reason he decided to accompany them was simple. He knew ninja's obsession with missions better than anyone else. Instead of letting them follow him around, he'd rather play them at their own game and see what they were plotting.

Sukea was not a man who liked to boast. But if he wanted to leave somewhere, there were few people in the world who could easily stop him.

When Yura and the others finished their talk and looked over, the brown-haired man curled his lips into a harmless smile. With his hand still hiding in the pocket, he secretly wiped away the bead of blood oozing from his thumb.

After brief introductions to each other, the ninjas continued their trip to the Hidden Tide Village. As they followed a path through the trees and disappeared into the forest, there was suddenly a faint rustle in the bushes next to the clearing where they had stopped shortly before.

Pressing his thumb, which was bleeding like the original, to the ground, Sukea's shadow clone whispered, " _Summoning Jutsu!_ "

"Yo," as the smoke dissipated, sat there was a pug with a listless expression. He sniffed and scowled at his master. "I never get used to this outfit no matter how many times I've seen you like this."

"I'm not used to it either," Sukea shrugged. "But I have to. Anyway, let's get down to business. What have you found? The group of unidentified ninjas that came to attack us yesterday were indeed Yura's men, weren't they?"

"The situation is awful, maybe even worse than you thought," Pakkun replied. "They're not only from Tide, but also Suna." Seeing Sukea widening his eyes slightly in surprise, his tone became more serious. "You know what it means, don't you?"

He didn't need to say it more clearly. They both understood- in fact those people were not after Sukea, the wandering ninja and Teruhiko's disciple. Their real target was Konoha's missing-nin, Hatake Kakashi.

"The enemies who had seen me using Sharingan or Chidori as Sukea should have all been killed," the brown-haired man said. "However, in the past two years, I have once again switched to this identity, so maybe someone has deduced from slight clues that we are actually the same person. After all, Suna is one of the five strongest shinobi villages, and its intelligence power should not be underestimated. The question is why they're suddenly hunting me," he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Of course, I'm a missing-nin and have a bounty on my head, so theoretically everyone has a very legitimate reason to go after me."

"Don't forget one thing," Pakkun said. "Your parents once fought in the Second Shinobi War against Sunagakure. By then Sakumo had really killed a lot of people... It's not surprising that their families come to seek revenge on you. Maybe Tide also happened to plan to get rid of you as Sukea, so they both hit it off and decided to act together."

Hearing his father's name, Sukea's gaze became gloomy for a moment. He shook his head after a short silence. "No, I don't totally agree. If they just want to seek revenge, they could have done it six years ago when I regained my original identity, and there was absolutely no need to wait until now. Perhaps there is another reason, such as..."

He unconsciously pressed one hand on his left eye, lost in his thoughts. After a while, he seemed to suddenly realize something and looked up at Pakkun, "is Chunin Exam coming up?"

"Yeah, I think it should be in about two weeks," hearing him bringing up an irrelevant topic, Pakkun was a little surprised but still replied. Then he slowly realized what the question had implied; his expression immediately turned irritated as he snarled to his master. "What are you planning? Don't tell me you wanna do Konoha a favor! You'd devoted yourself to that village, yet they've driven you and Sakumo to despair!"

"Pakkun, just calm down-"

"I know you were moved after meeting Minato's son and Obito in the Nation of Wave last time, but think it over. So far it's just your speculation, and once you say it aloud, do you think Konoha will believe a missing-nin, or their ally?"

"Not me, sure. I know, I know." Sukea raised his hands, "whatever Suna is going to do, I'll protect myself and let their plot fail; but other than that, I have no obligation or intention to alert Konoha. Is that okay?"

"Good that you know," Pakkun grunted.

"Thank you, Pakkun," Sukea smiled and patted the pug's head. "You can go back now. I'm going to disperse the shadow clone."

Saying that, he crossed his fingers in front of his chest and was instantly engulfed in white smoke.

"Fine, fine, take care..." Pakkun murmured, scracthing the back of his ear with his hind leg. Then he suddenly paused, tilted his head, and sniffed the air.

"Hmm? There's a familiar smell, just like... Well, that's not possible. Maybe I'm too tired and get it wrong."

With these words, the small ninken also disappeared into the white smoke.

* * *

Receiving information from his shadow clone, Sukea was surprised by that fact that Suna was actually behind the scene, but he didn't feel much tension inside.

 _If they're Suna shinobi, they won't necessarily wait until we arrive at Tide,_ he thought. _And probably there will be more of them involved in the operation._

Still, it didn't matter.

Whoever his enemy was and how many of them were there, it made no difference to him. He was always alone anyway, and what would fight alongside him was only the tanto on his back, Chidori in his hand, and Obito's eye. No matter he was Sukea, or-

"Aaaaaaaaaaah!!!"

A loud rambling noise and someone's scream broke into his thoughts. Sukea looked up and saw a round boulder rolling down the steep slope from the left. If there was anything that could make the scene even worse, it was a man in a large black cloak with an orange mask on his face, running for his life in front of the boulder in exaggerated movements. Obviously that strange scream just now came out of his mouth.

"You! You you you! Over there! Heeeeeeeelp!!!" As the man saw them, he immediately waved his arms vigorously, crying out for help.

Kenji, one of Yura's subordinates, dressed as a ninja from Hidden Tide Village, subconsciously stepped forward and was about to make a hand seal, but was stopped by his superior with a raised hand. "Stay out of it. We are on a mission. Don't get into trouble."

"You you you! Are you gonna watch Tobi die?!" The man and the stone continued to rush towards them, and in the blink of an eye had come close. Seeing them standing still and indifferent, the masked man's scream became even shriller. "Shouldn't you lend a hand to someone being chased by a boulder on the road this world without love is false Tobi won't spare you even after death-"

_Bang!_

With a loud sound, he was caught up under the boulder, and his words came to an abrupt end. The boulder finally stopped and stuck right in the middle of the path.

Deafening silence spread among ninjas. Everyone stared at the stone nervously, as if there would be blood mixed with smashed flesh seeping into the ground in the next moment-

Sukea quickly took a step back, just in time to avoid standing on the ground that cracked beneath his feet. The man stuck out his head from the gap; he had short, spiky black hair, his whole face hiding behind that funny mask.

"Great that Tobi's specialty is drilling holes under the ground!" The masked man raised his arms and cheered. The crowd saw a pair of steel claws on his gloves. Then he lowered his arms and looked up at Sukea. "Wow, Tobi likes the creative makeup on your face! Are you also an itinerant juggler?"

"...No," the surprised look on his face disappeared as the brown-haired man curled his eyes into a gentle smile. "I'm a travelling artist."

* * *

"I'm Tobi, an itinerant juggler who brings joy and laughter to kids!"

The masked man who suddenly showed up introduced himself to others. When he said this, he was standing on a large round ball that he had took out of nowhere, juggling four plum-sized, colorful wooden balls.

"No one would believe such nonsense!" The first one to question him was another subordinate of Yura, Yamayoshi. He pointed at Tobi furiously- it's mainly because he was the one who had been ordered to remove the boulder. "You are a ninja, aren't you? Otherwise you wouldn't be able to escape from the damn rock and move underground! You can't make it with the stupid claws. You must have used an earth release ninjutsu!"

"Tobi is not a ninja!" The accused one argued. "Tobi just dug the tunnel a little faster- Ouch! "

As he spoke, he slipped and fell off the big ball, landing face-first on the ground. In his scream of pain, the smaller balls flew out of his hands and rolled away in all directions.

A pair of feet stopped in front of him. The brown-haired man crouched down and handed over the balls he had picked up, "here you are."

Tobi stopped wailing, raised his head and looked at the travelling artist. "You are so nice! Can Tobi know your name? And where you are going?"

"My name is Sukea, and I'm going to the beach near the Hidden Tide Village to seek inspiration," the disguised missing-nin blinked and answered. He pointed to the others standing nearby, "these two gentlemen are travelling merchants who are going to do business with the village, and they hired the three ninjas to escort them. As for me," he scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly. "I'm just the lucky dog who gets free protection because we have the same destination."

"Tobi is going to the Nation of Tide, too! Although not to the village, but at least we're going in the same direction!" Tobi immediately jumped up and pounced on Sukea. "Let Tobi share the protection please, Sukea-senpai!"

"Se-senpai?"

"Are you kidding me?!" Yamayoshi yelled, already at the end of his patience. "Why do we have to bring a suspicious jerk like you along! Just take off your damn mask first!"

"Eh~~~?" Tobi drawled and turned to him. He pressed a finger on his mask. "If Tobi agrees to take of his mask, will you accept him as a fellow traveller?"

"...I didn't say that!"

While the two were bickering, Sukea stood up and walked over to Yura.

"Indeed, we don't know who the man is and he's most likely a ninja, approaching us with a questionable intention," he said in a low voice that only both of them could hear it. "But if we insist on him leaving, then we'll look more suspicious than him. Moreover, even if we drive him away, we don't know if he'll follow us secretly. Why not let him come along and keep a close watch on him?"

Yura gave him a deep look. Sukea smiled back calmly.

"Fine," although a bit reluctant, Yura agreed. "He can go with us."

* * *

"Yura-san, why you cover half of your face with your hair? Could it be that... your right eye is the legendary Rinnegan?!"

"..."

"Merchant-san, what's in your big case? Is it a corpse? Is it? Is it?"

"N-no! That's impossible! Please don't make such a joke!"

"Yamayoshi-san, Tobe will give you an unique performance- eating ramen with my eye!"

"Damn you splash the noodle soup on my clothes! It's disgusting! Get away from me!"

After Tobi had joined them, their journey soon became very... lively. He seemed to have inexhaustible energy, keeping jumping up and down in the team, and bothering everyone with various bizarre topics.

Yura and Kenji kept ignoring him; the two merchants tried to avoid him when they saw him approaching; Yamayoshi yelled at him annoyedly every time; only Sukea always treated him with a kind smile. Finally, Tobi attached himself to the brown-haired man, and no longer tormented others, which, they had to say, was really a relief.

"Why does Sukea-senpai want to be a travelling artist?" Walking beside Sukea, Tobi suddenly asked after a rare silence of less than a minute.

Sukea looked surprised but quickly asked in reply. "Why did Tobi become an itinerant juggler?"

"Why? Because an itinerant juggler can bring others happiness, of course," Tobi answered in an overly cheerful tone. "There is a man in the world who is always unhappy, and Tobi wants to make him smile with genuine joy by all possible means!"

Hearing his answer, Sukea fell into silence.

"I once... almost lost someone who was very important to me," he said quietly after a while. "I decided then that if he died, I would become his eyes and see the future for him. So I drew paintings of the places I'd been to-"

"Tobi knows it!" Before he could finish, Tobi had already shouted. "The guy died afterwards, so every time you finish a painting, you'll burn it for him!"

"He didn't die, but... we parted company a long time ago. So I could only keep the paintings myself."

"Sukea-senpai's paintings must be wonderful!" Tobi danced around him. "How about giving them to Tobi? Tobi will definitely treasure them!"

The soft smile lingering at the corners of Sukea's lips suddenly disappeared. He fell silent again.

"Sukea-senpai?" Tobi looked at him with a tilt of his head.

"We'll enter the Nation of Tide tomorrow morning, and arrive at the Hidden Tide Village by the next afternoon." Instead of replying, Sukea unexpectedly changed the subject. He looked into the single hole on Tobi's mask with his gray eyes, showing no emotion in his gaze. "When are you leaving?"

* * *

A short distance ahead of Sukea and Tobi, Yura and Kenji walked together in silence, both listening carefully to the conversation between the two behind them.

"Captain," Kenji lowered his voice and asked. "What do you think?"

"Sukea or Hatake Kakashi, I don't remember he had any companions," Yura said. "And his only possible helper, Teruhiko, is already dead. I really can't think of anyone who would come all the way here to help him. But I can hardly believe Tobi is someone irrelevant, either."

"Could he be from Konoha?" Kenji asked. "Like... that Uchiha Obito."

"The Chunin Exam will be held soon, so Konoha jonin who lead genin teams will be required to stay in the village in the near future," Yura shook his head. "Besides, considering the long distance from here to Konoha, and we have acted secretly, it's unlikely that someone have not only recognized us, but also sent message to Konoha in time." 

"That's true," Kenji agreed. "And I've heard that Uchiha Obito is a powerful and respected elite jonin. While this guy... I don't know if he's pretending to be crazy or really crazy." He glanced back disapprovingly.

"Even if he's the Uchiha, it doesn't matter. Once he blows his cover, we can take the opportunity to accuse Konoha of harboring a missing-nin. We were going to take Hatake Kakashi's Sharingan to confront his eye, but it'll be even better if we can directly get Uchiha Obito in trouble, or even make him expelled by Konoha."

"So we don't need to change the plan?"

"No," Yura narrowed his eyes coldly. "The canyon that we'll pass tomorrow will be their graves."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Heroes of the Sharingan vs Suna.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	16. Kamui

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: Canon-typical violence.

"Baki-san, here's the new report. Captain Yura and his team will arrive here in less than an hour. The target has been acting normal, and he doesn't seem to have noticed our plan. But..."

"But what?"

"It's about the itinerant juggler, Tobi, who was mentioned in yesterday's report. He's still with the team. Although we don't know his exact identity yet, it's very likely that he's also a ninja."

"..."

"Baki-san?"

"I have a bad feeling. Hatake Kakashi is a cautious man. It's strange that he was so cooperative all along and showed no suspicion, even he did have a grudge against Hidden Tide Village. And now there is another unidentified ninja... We can't wait any longer."

"So...?"

"Forget about the canyon. Let the shock troops go first, followed by the main force. Once you encounter the target, immediately notify Yura and attack on the spot!"

* * *

Passing through the shady woods, appeared before the travellers was an endless wilderness. It's already October, but the sun at noon was still scorching hot, shedding light and heat unsparingly. Walking in such a place at such a time was not a comfortable experience at all.

"When we get there, we can rest for a while," Yura said, looking back and pointing at the canyon in the distance. Despite wearing a head-to-toe cloak with a hood over his head, he seemed to adapt well to the temperature and didn't show any discomfort.

Besides him, Yamayoshi, Kenji, the two merchants and Sukea all looked calm and normal as if they didn't feel the weather sweltering. The only exception was Tobi, who almost hung himself on the young artist's shoulders, shuffling and panting exaggeratedly from under his mask.

"Sukea-senpai, Tobi is dying of thirst! Tobi needs to eat a big bowl of red bean smoothie to regain his energy!"

"You've already drunk up the water in my bottle- with your eye, though." Sukea responded patiently to Tobi's childish words. He took out the bottle from his backpack and shook it, showing the other man that it's empty. "If you wanna eat smoothie, you'll have to wait at least until we arrive at the next town... in the evening."

The wind brought a rustle of grass and sand. Hearing this sound, the brown-haired man suddenly paused very shortly before he finished his words. He turned his gray eyes in the direction of the wind, his expression thoughtful.

One of the merchants walking in front of the two suddenly stumbled and almost fell before his companion grabbed his arm in time. Behind them, Yamayoshi let out a somewhat deliberate yawn.

The already quiet team seemed to become even more silent at this moment. Sukea blinked, once, twice.

"You've been following us for a long time," he said, looking back at Tobi, the gentle look on his face quietly faded. "We'll arrive at the Hidden Tide Village soon. Aren't you going somewhere else?"

"Eh? Did Tobi say that?" The masked man replied by playing dumb. "But it was fun travelling with Sukea-senpai! Tobi doesn't have a companion anyway, so he can change his schedule at will." He clapped his hands excitedly, "now Tobi wants to go to the beach, too!"

Sukea gazed at him mutely before sighed. "If you say so... Fine."

At the moment he stopped speaking, something unexpected happened.

The flat and solid ground under one of the merchant's feet cracked without warning. A hand stuck out and grabbed his ankle. With a startled yell, the man was dragged into the earth, leaving only his head still above the surface. The large case that he had been carrying on his back also fell to the ground with a thud.

An arm-length tanto slipped out of Sukea's sleeve. Holding it in his hand, he stepped forward without a word and thrust the blade straight into the top of the merchant's head before others could react. 

The hard skull was easily pierced through as if it was as fragile as a piece of paper. But no one heard any scream, nor blood spattered; there was an eerie cackling came from the merchant's throat as his head suddenly turned 180° to face Sukea, staring at him with hollow eyes.

"Puppet Substitution Jutsu," Sukea murmured. "Just as I thought-"

" _Black Secret Technique: Poison Needle in Mouth!_ "

Someone inside the rattan case shouted. The travelling merchant- or rather, his puppet- opened its mouth to an angle that would never be possible for a human. Several poisoned senbons were shot out, straight towards Sukea.

At such a close distance, it was impossible to dodge. The senbons hit their target squarely, and the travelling artist staggered backward a few steps before collapsing-

_Poof!_

Sukea disappeared into a cloud of white smoke.

It's been only several seconds from the travelling merchant was dragged into the earth to the destruction of Sukea's shadow clone. But it's far from over yet; a figure broke through the soil, and with a swing, the real, famous and intimidating tanto cut through the rattan case from bottom to top, split it in half.

"Aaaaaah!"

This time it's not the puppet being slashed. The scream stopped abruptly as the smell of blood quickly spread. Dark red, sticky liquid slowly seeped from the crack in the middle of the case, hinting how terrible it was inside.

"Damn it... Keep distance!" Yura yelled, his face turning pale as one of his subordinates died miserably before the battle had even begun. At his command, Yamayoshi, Kenji and the other merchant immediately leapt backwards, distancing themselves from the murderer.

"You..." the Suna captain asked reluctantly as he stared at the Konoha's missing-nin who had resumed his original attire. "How on earth did you find out something was wrong?"

"With my ears," Kakashi answered, shaking the blood off his blade. He looked up at Yura. "Actually I've known you're from Suna several days ago, but just changed my plan because of some _unexpected incident_." He tilted his head in the direction where the wind had blown from, "it seems that the way you Suna shinobi use to deliver messages hasn't changed in the slightest over the years. Of course, you're using a set of new secret signals now, which does credit to you. You really shouldn't forget that my father had fought against Suna for quite a few times during the Second Shinobi War, should you?"

"Hatake... Sakumo!" Speaking of that name, a look of hatred and fear flashed across Yura's face. He quickly calmed down and shouted, "start the plan, now!"

Both Yamayoshi and Kenji started to make hand seals along with him. The air around them began to flow rapidly. The three shinobi formed a triangle net of wind blades, trapping Kakashi and Tobi inside.

"I've warned you. Now you can't escape even if you want to," Kakashi told Tobi while he looked around. 

"How about going underground then?" Tobi asked, pulling out his pair of claws again from nowhere. "Tobi is good at drilling holes!"

"No way," Kakashi said flatly. "Or rather, it's already too late. It's very likely that they have forseen our possible reaction and took precautions. I'm afraid that their reinforcements have arrived, and put a large number of puppets underground. Once we go down, they'll soon launch the attack."

"That's it! You'll die here today, Hatake Kakashi!"

Hearing the roar, the silver-haired missing-nin looked up. The one who spoke was Kenji, who had been silent with a blank face all the way. He's now glaring at Kakashi with hatred and blatant killing intent in his eyes.

"My father and uncle were both dead in the Second Shinobi War, killed by Konoha's White Fang! As his son, you must pay for the debt of blood!"

"So you came to me with a deliberate plan, only to avenge the death of the elder generation?" Kakashi asked. "You even forced the Hidden Tide Village to get involved, and didn't attack me until we've travelled such a long distance. It's really hard for me to believe that you did all of these just for personal grudges."

"Enough," Yura interrupted coldly when Kenji was about to say something. "It's meaningless to talk to him... Attack!"

Six puppets emerged from underground at his order and surrounded the two men inside the net of wind blades. Kunai, shuriken, senbon, countless weapons were threw at them in all directions. 

" _Earth Style: Multiple Earth Wall!_ "

Kakashi slammed the ground with his palms. Four walls of earth were immediately created around them, protectng him and Tobi securely. They heard those weapons hit the wall like a rain; some were bounced off, but most of them stayed there and started to corrode the surface. Obviously, they were coated with a strong corrosive poison.

"Looks like they decide to kill you, too," Kakashi said as he got to his feet, picked up the tanto that he had thrown on the ground to make hand seals, and put it back to the sheath. "If you want to leave here alive, follow me and be cooperative."

Tomoes in his Sharingan began spinning, faster and faster, and were about to change into a new pattern. "Now, I'm going to capture that guy called Kenji."

* * *

If Obito remembered correctly, this would, in fact, be the first actual combat that both he and Kakashi used their Mangekyo Sharingan.

Twelve years ago, they had awakened the advanced form of Sharingan when witnessing the deaths of their sensei and his wife. Although they had worked on the unique abilities of their eyes after that, with the level of chakra Kakashi had back then, it'd already been exhausting for him to maintain the three tomoes in battle, let alone Mangekyo Sharingan. And soon after Kyuubi attack, Kakashi had joined ANBU and no longer carried out missions with Obito and Rin, hence Team Minato was also disbanded.

Since their enemies were puppets that threw weapons, which made it difficult to get close to them, launching long-range attack with Kakashi's left eye would indeed be more feasible. Obito didn't know if Kakashi had intentionally trained his Sharingan over the years, and how long his current level of chakra could enable him to use Mangekyo Sharingan, but it's exactly the tactic that Obito wanted.

After all, when they both used Kamui on the same target, the teleportation speed would be doubled. Moreover, as Kakashi would openly use his dojutsu, it would be difficult for Suna to find evidence that Obito had been secretly cooperating with the Hatake, even if they realized his identity later.

As for the fact that Kakashi would also realize who he was? Well, it didn't matter. Anyway, he had no intention to leave instantly after doing a favor incognito. This time, that bastard wouldn't be able to get rid of him so easily again.

"The son of the famous White Fang, are you going to be a coward and hide in your fortress forever?" Kenji shouted sarcastically. "You won't be able to use your proud swordsmanship under the threat of our puppets!"

" _Lightning Style: Lightning Beast Tracking Fang!_ "

The corroded earth wall was suddenly blown apart from the inside. Three lightning hounds broke through the wall, howling and darting in a zigzag, damaging the puppets in their wakes. However, when they collided with the net of wind blades, they could no longer maintain their shape and quickly disspated.

"Even the lightning ninjutsu you're best at is weak against our wind one," Kenji was first stunned, but soon regained his composure as he saw the lightning hounds had disappeared. "Our chakra nature is the unbeatable rival of yours. Just give up and accept your death!"

"You seem to have forgotten that swordsmanship and lightning ninjutsu are not the only things I'm good at," Kakashi responded in a calm voice. He reopened his left eye, revealing the shape of a windmill in the blood-red pupil.

" _Kamui._ "

The next moment, under Kenji's horrified gaze, his entire right arm was dragged into the twisted rift.

_Kamui!_

Seeing Kakashi's target, Obito also activated his own Mangekyo Sharingan right after him. The speed of teleportation was greatly accelerated, and with a chilling cracking, Kenji's arm was brutally ripped from his shoulder and vanished into the re-closing rift.

"AAAAAAAH! My arm, my arm!!" The man screamed and slumped to his knees. Blood poured out through his fingers as he tried to cover the wound with his other hand.

"Puppet Team, keep attacking!" Yura hissed an order as he paled at the frightening scene. "Yamayoshi!"

More puppets broke through the ground and fired at their targets. At the same moment, the two Suna shinobi also launched their own ninjutsu: " _Wind Style: Vacuum Blast Barrage!_ "

" _Fire Style: Dragon Flame Bomb!_ "

The huge fire dragon roared as it swirled up and flicked its head and tail, successfully blocked all the weapons and the wind ninjutsu before rumbling towards the puppets.

"You're indeed a ninja!" The firelight illuminated Yura's serious look. "Wind is weak against fire, but such a powerful fire ninjutsu... Are you from Konoha?"

"Do you mean Hatake Kakashi is a Kumo shinobi because he has invented a S-ranked lightning ninjutsu?" Obito snorted, still disguising his voice but no longer keeping an overly exaggerated tone. 

The fire dragon dissipated as they were talking, leaving the remains of puppets on the ground. Kakashi seized the chance to pull out his tanto and rushed towards Kenji, who seemed to have lost the ability to fight.

"Kenji!" shouted Yamayoshi. "He's coming at you!"

Hearing his companion's warning, Kenji struggled to get to his feet and stumbled backwards, but Kakashi was much faster than him. When there were only a few steps between them, a smug smile suddenly appeared on the Suna shinobi's face.

"You've fallen into the trap, Hatake."

" _Black Secret Technique: Sanshōuo!_ "

The one who shouted was the puppeteer who had disguised himself as a travelling merchant and had been beside Yura since the start of the battle. He had been pressing his right hand on the ground, as if he was in contact with someone, while slapped on an open scroll with the other hand.

The earth between Kenji and Kakashi cracked as a puppet in a unique shape clattered out of the ground. The lid on its back opened, and a frill quickly swung up and defended Kenji behind it.

The tanto coated in white chakra collided with the shield with a clang, sparks flying off in all directions. Failing to cut it in half, Kakashi widened his eyes slightly in mild surprise.

Just then Sanshōuo transformed again. The two wings of the shield fully stretched out and in the blink of an eye, it had formed a conical defensive wall- or rather, a prison- that trapped the silver-haired man inside.

_...Kakashi!_

Anxious as he saw Kakashi fell into trouble, Obito almost blurted out the missing-nin's name. At this moment, however, those puppets that had survived in the fire dragon's attack begun to launch a new round of attacks on him. Unable to activate his intangibility lest blowing his cover, he could only use taijutsu to dodge the weapons, sparing him no strength to help.

Yura turned to the puppeteer beside him and asked, "how long will the main force arrive here?"

The puppeteer tapped his right fingers on the ground. After some communication, he looked up and replied, "in at least five minutes."

"Tch, I don't have the confidence to stall them for that long," Yura gritted his teeth. "We have no other choice now... notify everyone to make the final preparation!"

On the other side of the battlefield, Kenji staggered back a few more steps. "Sanshōuo... is the puppet with the highest defensive power," he said, looking at the trapped enemy. "Even with you tanto, you won't be able to break it easily-"

His expression suddenly changed before he could finish his words.

The sharp sound of chirping birds rent the air. A dazzling blue light erupted through the seams of the cone. With a loud bang, iron and wood pieces flew in all directions, and Kakashi, whose right hand was wrapped in lightning, jumped out and darted straight towards Kenji, slashing at him with his tanto in his left hand.

With another scream, a severed hand fell to the ground, still dripping blood.

"Don't get me wrong. I don't have any inclination to kill people with maltreatment," Kakashi said. He looked down at Kenji, who had collapsed and almost fainted due to the pain. "But I need to keep you alive for now, which means I have to prevent you from committing suicide."

"Now, get into the prison," the pattern in his Sharingan changed again as he activated Kamui for the second time.

"... _Sukea!_ " Obito shouted as he broke through the puppets surrounding him by Fireball Jutsu and managed to get to Kakashi's side. As long as he didn't use Blast Wave Wild Dance, a normal fire ninjutsu would not be evidence to determine his identity. After a glance, he immediately understood Kakashi's intention and also activated Kamui, sending the Suna shinobi in front of them into the other dimension.

The spiral rift closed. Kakashi swayed slightly but immediately regained his footing. "All right, now we just need to get out of here-"

Before he could finish the words, his eyes suddenly widened, showing a nervous expression for the first time since the battle began. "Leave the ground... they're going to detonate all the puppets here!"

It had become apparent as he spoke. Obito could feel the ground beneath his feet shaking violently. Countless tiny steel claws burst out of the earth, trying to capture them.

Concentrating chakra in his legs, Obito leapted into the mid air and easily escaped from the claws. His pupils suddenly shrank as he subconsciously looked down-

Kakashi, who had warned him, didn't jump up himself. Moreover, he even knelt down on one knee, slouching, as if he was exhausted.

_That idiot... has he already run out of chakra?!_

Obito's heart was in his throat as he watched several hooked claws clung to Kakashi and hold him to the ground. Feeling distraught, he was about to risk landing on the earth and teleporting Kakashi into Kamui's dimension, even if it meant he might expose his identity before those Suna shinobi, when a familiar voice suddenly sounded behind him.

"Don't go down."

_Boom!_

In a split second of Obito's hesitation, the tremor below reached its peak. With a loud bang that seemed to shake the whole world, several pillars of fire shot up into the sky, and the figure on the ground was instantly engulfed in the flames and smoke. With the Eye of Insight, Obito saw Kakashi's body turn into lightning before spliting into many strands, burrowing into the ground along the wires connected to the claws.

It was a lightning style shadow clone.

"The puppeteers who controlled these puppets are probably within a hundred meters from here," the voice continued, and Obito suddenly felt a weight on his back. Kakashi- the original- was hanging himself onto Obito. They fell down together, but thanks to Obito's quick reaction, he managed to land on a safe spot that hadn't been affected by the pillars of fire, which saved them from being burned. "The lightning will follow the chakra threads and attack them... We can't leave without repaying them after they made us so much trouble, can we?"

"Now, while there is smoke to obscure their vision, hurry into the Kamui's dimension. Even if they saw us, they won't be able to tell if it's me or you using Mangekyo Sharingan."

Obito stiffened at his last words. The Uchiha slowly turned his head to look back at the man crouching on his back. "Kakashi, you..."

"I've used Kamui twice, Chidori, and lightning style shadow clone. To be honest, I can't even move a finger now," the silver-haired man curled his eyes and gave him an sheepish smile. "So..."

"I'll count on you from now on, _Obito._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's even more difficult to write battle scenes in English...
> 
> Next chapter: bicker, kiss, confession.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	17. Do You Understand?

Under the cover of flames and smoke, Obito activated Mangekyo Sharingan and sent himself and Kakashi into Kamui's dimension.

The spiral rift closed behind them, shutting out the smell of smoke and the booming sound. As soon as they landed on a platform, Kakashi couldn't help but slump down. Obito immediately turned around and grabbed him before he hit the ground, draping one of Kakashi's arms over his own shoulder.

Someone was groaning weakly. The two shinobi looked up and saw Kenji lying there, his body curled into a ball. The man looked extremely miserable without his right arm and left hand. The blood loss made his face pale and his body shaking uncontrollably, as if he might lose consciousness at any moment.

But neither Obito nor Kakashi showed an expression of sympathy. They have seen too much blood and death that hardened their hearts to such a scene. Since their youth, war had taught them a cruel truth- pity was the most useless thing on the battlefield.

Kakashi patted Obito with his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. Obito nodded knowingly and helped him towards Kenji. Hearing their footsteps approaching, the Suna shinobi was finally brought back from his pain, raised his eyes and threw a fearful and hateful glare at the Konoha jonin. "You're... Uchiha Obito!"

"It's too late to recognize me now," Obito grunted, leading Kakashi to sit down and having the other man lean against himself in a less obvious position.

"I don't think you wanna have a long talk, so let's just get right to the point," Kakashi drawled. After getting rid of the pursuers, he was quickly back to his usual listless self, his voice weary. "Suna suddenly came after me for Sharingan, which meaned your target was Obito, or rather, Konoha. Does it have anything to do with the coming Chunin Exam?"

Before Kenji replied, Obito had turned to look at Kakashi in surprise. "Their target is me...?"

"Mahh... since a long time ago, among those who came after me in the name of eradicating missing-nins, nine out of ten acturally aimed at the Sharingan," Kakashi shrugged. "Suna spent so much time and manpower on hunting me, which shows the importance of the mission, and by no means they could have acted out of personal grudges. If there is anything that they have to accomplish with the help of Sharingan despite being one of the five strongest shinobi villages, it's to confront Konoha, which has an equal status as Suna, and you, who have the same eye. After all, Kamui is indeed a powerful dojutsu that is difficult to defeat."

Kakashi's words worried Obito. However, he still couldn't help but feel proud and happy when he heard what the other man said at last. He quickly realized that it's not the right time to show happiness, so he cleared his throat awkwardly before turning back to Kenji with a stern face. "Is that true? Is Suna really plotting to attack Konoha during Chunin Exam, even we're allies?"

"Hmph... I don't know what you're talking about, and I'm not interested at all," Kenji sneered. "The seniors said they needed enough men to deal with Hatake Kakashi, and I wanted to avenge my family, so I was in. And I knew that many of my comrades had the same intention, too. As long as we can send you to hell to be reunited with your fucking asshole father, we don't care what else the higher-ups have in mind."

He managed to stretch out his neck and spat hard at Kakashi's feet. "We couldn't have been happier when we heard that you were designated as a missing-nin by Konoha and became a lost dog with nowhere to return to. White Fang had been Konoha's lapdog all his life, yet after his death, his own son was expelled from the village. It's the only pity that you're still alive until now and escaped from this ambush!"

"Watch your mouth," Obito warned as he pressed his foot down sharply on Kenji's head. "Haven't you suffered enough?"

"I'm dying anyway, which is just a matter of time. So what's the difference?" Kenji asked in reply dismissively. At this point, he really didn't seem to care about his life any more. "The same goes for you, Uchiha. Now there are only three people left in your clan, aren't there? You, a genin brat who just graduated from Academy, and Uchiha Itachi, the maniac who slaughtered his clan... It's been almost five years, yet he's still at large. Konoha is such a incompetent village- AAAAAAH!"

Kenji's words ended abruptly in the next moment, turning into a shrill scream. Obito stepped his other foot right on the man's wound, grinding it brutally with the sole of his sandal.

"One more word about my clan and I'll let you know the consequence," Obito hissed, a dangerous crimson glinting in his eye, his words threatening. "Then you'll learn how blissful death is."

"No need to waste your time on such things, Obito," Kakashi, who had been silent since his father was mentioned, finally said.

Still angry, Obito shot a sullen glance at him before lifting his feet away. Kakashi looked at Kenji.

"I don't care how many of you can't wait to see me more miserable, or want me to die right now," he said indifferently. "I'd have quitted being a ninja long ago if I was not prepared to be hated by others. As for what happened between me and Konoha, it's none of your business."

"It doesn't matter if what you just said is simply for momentary gratification, or you wanna die quickly by deliberately irritating us. Since you seemed to know nothing about the key details of the operation, there is no point in keeping you alive," Kakashi paused and looked at Obito. "Let him be relieved."

"Are you sure?" Obito asked. "Just let the bastard off so easily?"

"I'm done with him, it's up to you now," Kakashi answered. He moved himself clumsily away from Obito and laid down on the ground, trying to make it look like he could still control his own body, rather than falling to the ground awkwardly. "To be honest, I didn't expect much from him in the first place. Maybe he was telling the truth, that Suna's top brass did gather their manpower in the name of revenge. After all, the less people know their real purpose, the safer."

"Then I'll take him outside and finish him off," Obito stood up and bent down to grab the back of Kenji's collar. "I'll also check in passing if the other Suna shinobi have gone."

"Alright," Kakashi turned over with his back to him. "Be careful."

* * *

After disposing of Kenji's corpse, Obito concealed his chakra and silently sneaked to the clearing where they had just fought. The enemies seemed to have withdrawn, leaving only the cracked ground and some parts of broken puppets scattered everywhere. After confirming that Suna shinobi were nowhere nearby, Obito scanned the battlefield, but unfortunately didn't find anything of value.

By the time he returned to Kamui's dimension, nearly forty minutes had passed. Obito found that Kakashi was lying asleep on the ground.

He couldn't help but hold his breath. Obito tiptoed over and sat down carefully next to Kakashi.

 _At last, I got him_ \- At this moment, without other distractions, this thought slowly came to his realization. Kakashi was right here, in Kamui's dimension, and too weak to ever again get rid of him as he had done the last time in the Nation of Wave.

After eleven years, perhaps this time, they could finally have an open and honest talk.

 _But I should let him have a good sleep first_ , thought Obito, looking at the other man's pale face and the faint shadows under his eyes. Kakashi had consumed too much chakra in the battle, and over the past two weeks, he had probably been keeping an eye on Yura and others secretly day and night, and couldn't sleep peacefully.

Obito suddenly felt a trace of satisfaction and comfort at this thought. The fact that Kakashi was sleeping in Kamui's dimension meant that he was indeed at ease with Obito and willing to let his guard down beside the Uchiha. He had no worry that when he woke up, he would find himself in Konoha's prison.

Or rather, Kakashi had shown adequate trust since he allowed Obito to take care of him when he was temporarily immobile.

Kyoko had confirmed Kakashi's true thoughts to Obito, but back in the Nation of Wave, both of their two meetings were far from pleasant. It's not until now that Obito finally felt secure and let himself show a small smile.

But the smile soon faded as he saw Kakashi's slight frown.

_Have you been living like this for the past eleven years? Adrift and isolated, always on the lookout for foes who came to seek revenge, and those greedy ones who coveted Sharingan? Is that why you're always on guard, even in your sleep?_

_What else has been haunting you, apart from the danger lurking in the shadow...?_

Just as he was lost in his thought, Kakashi's eyelids suddenly trembled slightly. Obito quickly came out of his trance, his eye fell upon Kakashi's face, waiting for the right eye to slowly open.

Probably because it had been a long time since he had rested peacefully like this, despite the cold and hard surface of the platform, Kakashi fell into a deep sleep. When he first opened his eye, his mind still seemed to be in a fog. His eye met the Uchiha's, and then-

" _...Obito._ "

With a raspy voice filled with so much pain and longing, he whispered the black-haired jonin's name softly.

Obito's heart clenched. As if a bolt of lightning flashed across his mind, for a moment he seemed to understand _something_. Something that he had thought about, but never dared to contemplate.

Before Obito could catch the flickering thought, Kakashi had come fully awake and realized the situation. An unnatural look immediately crossed his face; he lowered his eye slightly, as if to break the eye contact between them, but eventually, he somehow looked up again and met Obito's eye.

For a long time, neither of them said anything, just staring at each other in silence. In the end, it was Kakashi who was overwhelmed by Obito's steady gaze and averted his eye first.

"Kamui's dimension," he said after clearing his throat. Kakashi looked around, obviously trying to change the subject. "It's been about a decade since I came here last time. Kinda miss it. Where are we going now?"

"Otonashi no Sato. I was with Kyoko-san before coming to you," Obito replied. He lowered his head and fiddled with his fingers, not sure if he should tell Kakashi that if he hadn't left back then, he could have come in at any time.

"It's her, of course. So her ninhawk saw me, and then she found out Yura and the others are from Suna? You seemed to have known their identities."

"No. Actually it were Zabuza and Haku who brought the information, I just happened to be there."

"Zabuza and Haku?" Kakashi turned his head to look at him, surprised.

Obito nodded. "I don't know if they'll still be there when we go back, though."

"I haven't seen them quite a while," Kakashi murmured. "I owe them a big favor this time. No wonder you came here, and so quickly."

"Yeah. And Kyoko-san lent me a ninhawk to help me find you."

"I see."

They went quiet again, and the silence spread. Kakashi looked away, pretending to be curious about something in the void. Obito clenched his fists wordlessly.

 _Someone has to bring it up,_ he said to himself. _Kakashi definitely wanted to avoid talking about it, so I'll have to be the one to start._

"Kakashi," He plucked up the courage and said. "After we returned to Konoha, Rin and I decided to risk violating the gag order and find out the truth. Before we started, your kouhai at ANBU, Tenzou, stopped us and took us to the man, Crane, who was on _that_ mission with you. Crane told us everything he knew, and Jiraiya-sensei added what had happened afterwards. He also told me to go to Otonashi no Sato and talk to Kyoko-san."

"The mission in the Nation of Moon, and how you've become a missing-nin... I've known it all."

Kakashi's expression softened as Rin and Tenzou were mentioned. But the gentle look quickly disappeared when he heard what Obito said later. He closed his eye.

"When we were in the Nation of Wave, I asked you what happened eleven years ago, and you said it's meaningless to seek the truth. Why did you think so?" Obito raised his voice slightly and he spoke faster. "You did fail to return to Konoha in time, and kill Root's agent, but you didn't do them of your own will, so you shouldn't be responsible. Why don't you speak out the truth? Kyoko-san can testify for you and prove that you were under unusual circumstances, so you couldn't even send any message to the village."

"Rin, Tenzou, Jiraiya-sensei and I, we've all been waiting for your return. Don't you think we are able to clear your name and prove your innocence? And there's also Hokage-sama. If it weren't for his tacit approval, I wouldn't have learned about all of these so smoothly. Even if Danzo is tricky, he can do nothing in the face of evidence and facts, can he?"

Hearing his mention of the Third Hokage, Kakashi's eyebrows twitched very slightly, but Obito didn't notice it.

"Kakashi... I really hope that you can return to Konoha, and we'll still live together," Obito continued. He caught the missing-nin by the shoulder and half-forced the other man to face him. Kakashi immediately opened his eye, as if he's afraid that if he didn't, Obito would have made him do so. "Don't go back to ANBU, just be a normal jonin on regular duty, like me. You can have your own genin team, or if you think it's too troublesome, you can train Naruto and the other kids with me. I'll reintroduce you to them, clear up any misunderstanding, and let them know how great you really are."

"We can go out on missions together, just like when we were kids. We'll be invincible with our Sharingan. We'll protect each other on the battlefield, and if we get hurt, Rin will quickly heal us. When we're off, we can take Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura to hang out..."

He kept talking, painting a picture of what he had envisaged after Kakashi returned to the village. Those scenes had apparently lingered in Obito's mind for a long, long time; perhaps one year, five years, even a decade. For a moment, Kakashi seemed to be infected by the expectations in his words, and could not help but also begin to imagine the wonderful future-

But at last, reason pulled him back to the cold reality. Kakashi lowered his eye to conceal the sadness welled up.

"No, Obito," he said quietly. "That's... impossible. You... don't understand."

Obito stopped. He looked down and stared at Kakashi, his gaze stubborn. "Then make me understand."

"I... can't. Sometimes the more you know, the more you suffer. Being ignorant may actually be better. Anyway, I'm... doing fine now, and so are you, isn't that enough? Why you insist that I should go back to Kono-"

"You call THIS 'fine'?! You don't even have someone to be your backup!" His words were cut off by Obito's growl. The dark-haired jonin snatched Kakashi up by the vest and almost lifted his upper body from the ground. "Look at you now, too weak to do anything other than opening your eyes or mouth! Any lame genin can easily kill you, gouge your Sharingan out, and turn your head in to collect the bounty! If I hadn't found you, how would you have got rid of them on your own?"

"If you hadn't interfered, I could have left anytime I wanted, and I wouldn't even have had to fight them," Kakashi responded to Obito's anger with a calm voice. "Back then you and your team consisted of Inuzuka, Hyuga and Aburame spent three months on searching me, but still failed in the end, let alone those Suna shinobi."

Obito was stunned. He stared straight at Kakashi, and spoke after the slow realization. "So... it's all because of me that you changed your mind? That you decided to fight them and capture that guy alive instead of simply leaving?"

"..." Kakashi didn't expect him to be so keen all of a sudden. He turned his head away speechlessly.

"So you just can't let go of Konoha, can you?" Obito pursued eagerly. "Otherwise you wouldn't have cared about what Suna would do!"

"...That's _different_."

"What's different? You clearly just-"

"Obito!" Kakashi interrupted the Uchiha. He looked back and stared at Obito annoyedly, as if he has had enough of the conversation. "When can you become mature? Sometimes things just happen, it is what it is, and we can't do anything about it!"

He opened that left eye. "Reality is just that helpless. After what had happened at Kannabi Bridge, to Minato-sensei, and to me, you should have fully understood this. Stop being naive like a child!"

There was a silence. The two glared at each other, refusing to show weakness in their expressions. And then Obito narrowed his eye dangerously.

" _Naive_ ," he slowly repeated the word. "You say I'm naive?"

"Aren't you?" Kakashi asked rhetorically. "You wish so much that I can go back to Konoha, only because you believe that by doing so you can bring back Team Minato again, to what it once was, don't you? But so what? Eleven years have passed, many things have changed, and none of us can pretend that nothing has ever happened! Besides, you and Rin are- Ughhm!!"

The hand that grabbed his vest suddenly loosened. Kakashi fell backwards, the back of his head hit the ground. Before he could react, the Uchiha had pulled down his mask and kissed him roughly.

Kakashi's eyes widened in an instant. Dumbfounded, he stared at Obito, looking into the Sharingan within striking distance, three tomoes slowly rotating in the scarlet pupil. He was so shocked that he temporarily lost the ability to react, and didn't show any resistance when Obito ran his tongue over the Hatake's lips before slipping it into his mouth.

Obito took Kakashi's chin in one hand, and thrust his fingers of the other into the missing-nin's hair. He didn't grasp the silver strands too tightly, but still enough to eliminate all possibility of the man beneath escaping from him. Licking, nibbling, sucking, he claimed the younger shinobi's lips in a violent kiss. He has been staring at Kakashi's Sharingan with his own, as if to turn his gaze into a sharp arrow that would break through Kakashi's layers of defense and look straight into the depths of his heart.

Obito could feel Kakashi shivering slightly under his aggression, which only fueled his desire.

Saliva was gathering as their tongues touched each other. Feeling himself on the edge of drooling, Kakashi was finally drawn back from astonishment and protested with muffled sounds. Mercifully, Obito soon let him go; he loosened his grip, gently caressed the other man's untamed silver hair, brought their foreheads to rest against each other, and meanwhile never broke their gaze.

" _That_ 's why I want you to come back to Konoha," he said in a hoarse whisper. "Do you understand now... Kakashi?"

He had wanted to do this for a long time. Seven or eight years ago, in those unspeakable fond dreams in adolescence, he had long rehearsed the kiss countless times, but the real experience was even a thousand times better than the fantasy. The moment their tongue joined, the sweet sensation exploded, running down his spine and through every nerve like electric sparks, which almost intoxicated him.

When they lived together, he was still ignorant and unaware of his own true feeling. It's not until they were separated, perhaps never to see each other again, to fight shoulder to shoulder, that he finally realized it in the midst of long regret and confusion.

Obito only hated himself for being so obtuse. Otherwise he would have kept a firm eye on Kakashi, then perhaps all those things back then would not have happened.

"But... how's it possible...?" Kakashi seemed to be still in great shock and reacted with rare slowness. "Didn't you and Rin... Once you went out on a mission, I saw you with her, and you looked so natural..."

"You _saw_ us go out on a mission?" Obito's eyebrow raised high.

"..." Kakashi finally regained his composure. Knowing he had make a slip of the tongue, he awkwardly averted his eyes.

"Eleven years have passed, Bakakashi," Obito patted him on the head. "If Rin and I really have such a relationship, we should have married. Besides, you know she had a crush on you, not me. If you hadn't left back then, maybe you two would have got married."

"..."

"But it's too late to talk about that now," Obito suddenly changed his tone in a dangerous one. "I won't give you up to anyone else, not even Rin."

He stared at Kakashi with a burning gaze, a predator-like gleam in his eye. "Why don't I just lock you up in Kamui's dimension forever? That way, I'll be the only one you can see and talk to, and the only one you can love... whether you want it or not."

Kakashi looked at him in a way that as if the Uchiha suddenly had two heads. Obviously, he didn't expect such a possessive declaration from the black-haired jonin. Although Obito kept a strident look on his face, his heart was actually beating nervously.

By confessing, he also put the initiative into Kakashi's hands. If Kakashi said "no" to him with a sullen look, he could do nothing but accept it and silently bury his feelings towards the other man. As tempting as it might sound to keep Kakashi here forever, he never wanted to hurt Kakashi because of his own selfish desire.

Not to mention that Kakashi had his left eye and could leave Kamui's dimension at any time once he regained his energy- Obito refused to admit that this was actually the main reason why he turned down the idea.

Kakashi finally stopped looking around and fixed his eyes on Obito. The Konoha jonin immediately tensed up, staring back at him, trying to guess his thought by distinguishing every emotion that flashed across the mismatched eyes.

 _It's not fair,_ he thought angrily as he looked into the red one. _That's my eye, but I can't read it!_

Kakashi opened his mouth. It seemed that he was finally going to speak. "Obito, I-"

"I won't listen," Obito interrupted him in no time. "Anyway, since you childhood, eight times out of ten you words to me were annoying. I don't want to make myself miserable!"

"I just wanna say-"

"Say nothing!"

"I mean-"

"Stop!"

After being cut off three times in a row, Kakashi shut his mouth. He looked at the black-haired man who was hovering over him with a tough, but also somewhat unsettled look on his face, feeling both annoyed and amused.

"Are you taking advantage of me because I can't move right now?" He asked.

"Exactly," Obito replied unembarrassedly.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow. But his expression quickly softened, and his eyes curled up.

"Obito," he said. "Lower your head."

Obito swallowed. His heart couldn't help but beat faster as he met Kakashi's smiling gaze.

_Is he... really going to..._

Little by little, Obito lowered his head as he was told. Out of some inexplicable reason, he closed his eye.

He felt Kakashi stirred beneath him, and then, two soft lips pressed against his. The moment they touched, his thoughts went totally blank, and all he could hear was the sound of his own violent heartbeat, _thump, thump._

Man, it felt even better than last time.

They didn't parted until a good ten seconds. Obito opened his eye; Kakashi had lain back with an exhausted look, and said in a half-joking tone, "I can only last so long now."

"Earlier you asked me what's different between doing these things and not being able to let go of Konoha... _That_ 's the difference. Do you understand now, Obito?"

The surprise fell from the sky and landed on Obito's head with a bang, making him almost dizzy. The euphoria came so fast and unexpectedly that for one time he even lost his sense of reality, daring not to believe it's true.

"Ka-Kakashi," he stammered, looking at the silver-haired missing-nin. "Y-you are not out of your mind, are you?"

Kakashi couldn't help but rolled his eyes. "That's not what I expect to hear, dumbhead. And to be honest, I think you're the one who's out of your mind," he emphasized, " _Tobi._ "

"I-I prefer to call it acting!" Remembering that Kakashi had saw him playing silly all the way, Obito instantly blushed. "You didn't recognize me until I used Kamui, did you? Then it means I was successful!"

"Did I give the impression of being that slow?" Kakashi snorted. "If I hadn't known it's you, why would I have talked to you nicely? Why would I have had to use Kamui? You've seen how exhausting it was for me to use Mangekyo Sharingan. Even if you could fool those Suna shinobi, do you really think it worked on me, too?"

"...You recognized me from the beginning?"

"Of course. And you're the one who didn't realized it, weren't you?"

Obito was speechless.

But then Kakashi's smile suddenly disappeared. He let out a sigh.

"I've always hoped that no matter how long we have been apart, and how much we have each experienced and changed, we can still recognize each other at the first glance of our reunion... Even we're now completely different from what we once were."

Obito felt his stomach knot at the boundless melancholy in the silver-haired man's words. Even the previous joy were gradually faded and dissipated.

"Kakashi," after a brief inner struggle, he finally spoke, unwilling to give up. "You..."

The only response he got was silence. The comfortable atmosphere began to ebb away. Obito had expected it, but nonetheless, his mood sank inevitably .

"Let's not talk about it for now, Obito," he heard Kakashi said quietly after a long silence. "...Please."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: More fluff, more confession, more kiss.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	18. Never too late

Kakashi and Obito returned to Otonashi no Sato.  
  
They came out of Kamui's dimension and landed in the room Obito had been in. It's empty, but they saw a pigeon standing on the windowsill, grooming its feathers with its pointed beak. Seeing them suddenly appear, it cooed before spreading its wings and flying away.

"That's Kyoko-san's bird," Kakashi explained, "Most likely she told it to wait here and see when we would return."

As if on cue, a rush of footsteps sounded outside in the corridor. The door of the room was jerked open and the landlady appeared. She looked the two young men up and down carefully before letting out a sigh of relief, her face lit up with smile.

"It doesn't seem like you're wounded," resuming her usual graceful and calm appearance, Kyoko leaned back against the doorframe with her arms crossed, and raised an eyebrow at Kakashi. "So, is it chakra exhaustion again?"

"Mahh... yes. Neither of us are injured, and we just need to have a rest. Are Zabuza and Haku still here?"

"No, they've left shortly after Obito-chan. Zabuza said this was to return the favor he had owed to you in the Nation of Wave, and from now on you're even. But..." Kyoko said, tilting her head in Obito's direction. "Now you owe someone else another big favor, don't you?"

"It's unnecessary to bother about this between Kakashi and I," Obito said before Kakashi could answer. "He has a totally different relationship with me than with Zabuza!"

Kakashi looked at the Uchiha. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but in the end just curled his eyes in an indulgent manner.

"Oh?" Kyoko's eyes darted around Kakashi's arm on Obito's shoulder, and Obito's arm around Kakashi's waist. She drawled teasingly, "then tell me, what’s your relationship?"

"Uh... well..." Obito suddenly lost the confidence he had just now. He stammered and stole a glance at Kakashi, his face flushed. "We... we graduated from the same Academy! We were teammates in our childhood! We share the same pair of eyes! And lived together! I'm still living in his house! And..."

Seeing that Obito was about to count all the various connections between them, Kakashi coughed awkwardly. "Kyoko-san."

"Fine, fine. I got it." Kyoko held back a snicker and shook her hand. "It's getting late, and you must all be tired. Get some sleep now! I'll hear your story tomorrow."

"Obito, you can sleep first," Kakashi told Obito. He managed to move his arm off the black-haired jonin's shoulder, and Kyoko immediately stepped forward knowingly to support him on the other side. "I'd like to have a talk with Kyoko-san."

* * *

Obito woke up several hours later. Kakashi was nowhere to be seen, and his bedding was still neatly laid out, untouched.

Obito turned over and sat up. Rubbing his eye, he still felt drowsy, and a bit frustrated at himself. He had wanted to wait until Kakashi came back, but the futon was too comfortable and he was too tired, so he had fallen asleep without realizing it. He turned his eye to the clock on the wall and found it was almost midnight. What's Kakashi doing?

His attention was drawn by the faint sound of talking from next door. Obito crawled out of his blanket, stood up and tiptoed to the wall. Although he pressed his ear against the wall, still, he could only hear very muffled voices.

_Eavesdropping is not something the future Hokage should do..._

Obito pursed his lips childishly as he circled around in the room. He knew it's unethical to do so, but unfortunately, he was not able to control his burgeoning curiosity.

 _Well, we are ninja, and spying and eavesdropping are ninja's common practices,_ he justified himself with insufficient confidence. _I won't listen to things that irrelevant to Kakashi or me, and if they find me eavesdropping, I'll dogeza* and apologize..._

Persuaded himself, Obito surveyed the room's furnishings before fixing his eye on the large cupboard placed in the corner. He decided to take a chance: If the layout of the two rooms were the same, then in the next room, there would be an identical cupboard at the same spot. In that case...

The tomoes changed as he activated Kamui. Turning himself intangible, Obito leaned forward and carefully poked his head and shoulders across the wall.

If Sasuke knew that he was using his Mangekyo Sharingan for such a purpose, the kid would definitely scold him for wasting his eye and chakra.

Fortune smiled upon Obito. The layout of the two rooms was indeed identical, and his head appeared in the middle of a pile of meticulously folded sheets. The door of the cupboard perfectly blocked Kyoko and Kakashi's view of him so that they wouldn't notice his presence. The dark-haired Uchiha grinned silently, showing a smug smile about his successful plan.

He could clearly felt chakra flickering in the room before gradually faded. Obito heard Kyoko's voice, which sounded a little weary. "Is that okay?"

"I think so," then came Kakashi's voice. "Thank you, Kyoko-san. I'll be staying at Otonashi no Sato for the next few days, so this will be enough for now."

"Good. Let me know if you need more," there was a rustling sound, as if Kyoko moved back to her seat. "So, go on with your story. You guys captured that Suna shinobi and put him into Kamui's dimension. What happened after that?"

"There's not much worth telling afterwards," Kakashi said. "Perhaps the man did think that this was a battle of revenge for the elder generation, or as he put it, they didn't care about anything else as long as they could kill me. Shinobi in the villages can't act freely and come at me in private, so they naturally wouldn't let go of such a chance which was very likely to be successful, even if they knew they were used by the top."

After a pause, he added in a voice showing no emotion. "After all, for the village, ninja are tools that can be consumed and sacrificed at any necessary moment."

There was a brief moment of silence, then Kyoko spoke again. "What about Tide then?"

"Teruhiko didn't want me to avenge him and get further involved in the feud between him and Tide, I'll do as he told me to. Besides, last time we almost killed all of their elite soldiers, so as a small and weak shinobi village, Tide probably wouldn't dare to provoke me again. As for this time, maybe it's because they were unable to refuse the request of Suna, one of the five great shinobi villages, they were forced to be extras."

"I'll keep an eye on them and notify you if they're up to something."

"Alright. Thanks."

"Finally, there's Konoha," Kyoko said. With a light sound, the smell of tobacco soon permeated the room. "What are you going to do with them?"

Kakashi went silent. Obito couldn't help but hold his breath.

"I don't know," the silver-haired man said quietly. "Pakkun had warned me not to be silly, and I had initially planned to ignore the conflict between Konoha and Suna after I got myself out of it. But now..."

"So it's still because of Obito-chan, right?"

Obito tensed up, but Kakashi didn't answer.

"He's a good boy," Kyoko said. "I like him. When he first came here, I intimidated him that if he wanted to know about you, he either had to leave Konoha or give his remaining Sharingan to me. Guess what? If I hadn't stopped him, he would have really gouged out his eye."

"Kyoko-san..." Kakashi sighed resignedly. "Please, don't make such scary jokes again. That one track-minded baka will really take it seriously."

"Sorry, sorry. I'll never do that again," Kyoko made an insincere promise. "You don't seem to be surprised that he wouldn't choose to leave Konoha?"

"Nope."

"I know you'd never ask so, but if, for example, it's you who asked him to leave Konoha, do you think he would have agreed?"

"No," Kakashi gave the answer without a second thought. Obito was ashamed to admit that if Kakashi told him "I'll be with you if you leave Konoha", he might have to hesitate for a moment before refusing.

"Why?" Kyoko asked with interest.

"I know Obito. He loves the people of Konoha, and he dreams of becoming Hokage. He'll never betray the village unless _something very extreme_ happens. Actually, I can't imagine how desperate the situation will be if he makes such a decision."

Obito should have been happy that Kakashi was so confident in him. But he wasn't- Instead, his spirit drooped when he heard it.

 _I once thought you'd never leave Konoha, too,_ he said inwardly. _Yet here we are._

"People change," he heard Kyoko said. "You've been separated for so many years. Are you sure that you still know him like the back of your hand?"

"Even if something changes, there must be other things that will never change."

Kyoko chuckled. "You know what? When I asked Obito-chan a similar question, he said almost the exact same thing as you."

Kakashi seemed to respond to Kyoko with his body language. All Obito could hear was the soft rustle of his clothes.

"To be honest," Kyoko blew out a stream of smoke. "I thought you'd have rejected him again this time, just like what you had done in the Nation of Wave. If so, even I'd have felt unfair for Obito-chan. Fortunately, you didn't. It's true that no one can still pretend to be indifferent if somebody misses you so much, and is willing to come to rescue you regardless of his position and potential trouble, isn't it?"

"Yeah," Kakashi let out a gentle sigh. "I've made several subtle attempts to persuade him to leave, but they all fell on deaf ears. He's still as stubborn as he was as a kid."

"So, has he learned your feelings?" Kyoko suddenly asked. "Does he know that... _you've always loved him?_ "

Obito, whose head was inside the cupboard, was dumbfounded. If he didn't remember that he was eavesdropping and couldn't make any noise, he would have jumped up in surprise on the spot.

_...Always?_

_Kakashi... has always loved me? Since when?_

_Could it be... as early as, or even earlier than when I fell for him?_

Obito slowly raised a hand and placed it on his left chest. He felt that his heart was beating violently, and with every beat, it seemed to produce countless little bubbles of joy that quickly filled up his chest.

An sheepish cough yanked him back to reality. "Well, for the second question... he doesn't know it yet, I think." Kakashi said, his tone a rare bit shy. "And... actually it's him who expressed it first."

"Really?" Kyoko sounded amazed. "He confessed his feelings to you?"

"Mahh... yes."

"Man, I underestimated him. From what he said earlier, I thought he was one of those little fools who clearly love someone, but always think they're just friends, oblivious to their true feelings."

Obito pouted. _I'm not that slow!_

He wanted to defend himself inwardly, but then remembered that he had indeed thought they were just good friends when Kakashi was still in Konoha, and quickly wilted.

"He probably thought you didn't know it," Kakashi chuckled. "So he was too shy to make it obvious in front of you."

Obito nodded vigorously. _Exactly! Bakakashi knows me best!_

"Oh, then he underestimates me, too." Kyoko tsked. "After all, I'm in a business of gauging people's actions and minds. If I can't even see your feelings towards each other, I won't be able to be an info broker. But..."

Her voice suddenly softened. "Kakashi, I'm glad that you're not shying away from telling me your experience and thoughts. Over the years, you've been just like my own child in my heart. I was always heartbroken and worried every time I watched you roving alone, coming over with wounds, and always reluctant to tell me what had happened to you. I'm really happy to see that you're willing to open up to me like this."

Kakashi fell silent.

"When I was in Konoha, the only female elders I was close to were Tsunade-sama and Kushina-san," he said quietly after a while. "But Tsunade-sama had left Konoha when my father was alive, and Kushina-san felt more like a sister to me. If I had seen my mother... I think she would have probably been like you."

There was another rustle, and Obito guessed it was Kakashi bowing to Kyoko solemnly.

"You hadn't known me or my father previously, but you took such good care of me just because of Teruhiko's request. I'll never forget your kindness."

"Kid, I'd rather you don't stand on ceremony with me," Kyoko's tone was full of sincere affection. "I don't take care of everyone, even those sent by Teruhiko. I take care of you because I like you, and I want you to be happy. So when I see Obito-chan come all the way for you, that you love each other, and the little change in you because of him, it really makes me happier than anything. I'm really thankful for that boy."

Obito blushed at the appreciation. He could immediately feel the heat on his cheeks.

 _I'd better stop eavesdropping now,_ he thought. _How can I betray Kyoko-san's trust when she thinks so highly of me?_

Having made the decision, he subconsciously estimated how long he has been intangible. When he did it, he realized that he only had about five seconds left before reaching the five-minute limit.

 _That's so close!_ Obito thought as his shoulders slowly passed through the wall again. He was retreating little by little carefully, and just at the moment-

Kakashi probably said something when Obito was estimating the time, so he didn't hear it. And Kyoko responded with such words:

_"So you still don't intend to return to Konoha, do you? Even your love for Obito-chan can't offset your resentment towards Konoha, and..."_

Obito turned solid, and the voices next door once again became muffled. He stared at the wall with his Sharingan widened, the veins near his temple almost bulged like Byakugan.

Seriously, he really wished he had a Byakugan now, so that at least he could have read lips to deduce what they were possibly talking about.

But he didn't. And his intangiblity had reached its time limit at this very moment.

Obito tugged at his hair in annoyance. One second, maybe just one more second, he could have heard some important information and uncovered some truths that he still knew nothing about!

A great sense of frustration flooded over the Uchiha. He began to circle around anxiously in the room. When he felt that he could turn intangible again, he couldn't wait to pass through the wall and into the cupboard.

To his big disappointment, the crucial part was already over, and the conversation seemed to have come to an end.

"I'll think about it," Kakashi said, but Obito didn't know what Kyoko had said previously. "It's too late, I'm going back to my room. Please get some rest too, Kyoko-san."

The two shinobi got to their feet one after another. Obito hurriedly retreated again when the door of next room was pulled open. He rushed back to his futon and covered his face with the blanket, pretending to sleep.

Counting his heartbeat, Obito heard Kakashi pull open the door of this room. The silver-haired man seemed to throw him a glimpse, then walked over silently and laid down on his own futon next to him.

The room went completely quiet, but Obito's mind was active as never before. He was still frustrated that he had missed some key information, but it's not the most important thing now.

Kakashi was lying in the same room with him, a meter or so between their futons. Obito could hear the younger man's light breathing while Kyoko's earlier words kept echoing in his ears- _Does he know that you've always loved him?_

Somehow Obito felt that the blanket over his head was making it more and more difficult for him to breathe. Before he suffocated himself, he pulled down and held it tightly with his arms and legs. He then rolled towards Kakashi until his shoulder touched the Hatake's.

"Kakashi?" Tentatively, he breathed.

There was silence, then Kakashi chuckled. "Not pretending to sleep anymore, Obito?"

"...It's your fault to stay out so late!" Obito grumbled. "I couldn't fall asleep!"

He sounded unembarrassed, but in fact quite the reverse. Obito was afraid that Kakashi would know that he had eavesdropped his conversation with Kyoko. But Kakashi didn't seem to notice it; still lying on his back, he turned his face in the direction of Obito, and opened his right eye. "Where could I have been to in midnight? I just talked with Kyoko-san and came back as soon as we're finished."

"Yeah, I forgot to ask you," only then Obito realized it. "How could you walk by yourself?"

"Kyoko-san knows a special medical ninjutsu that allows her to transfer her chakra to others. Unfortunately the conversion rate is rather low, and I can only get a fifth of the amount of chakra she consumes. But at least it enables me to do some of the basic activities."

"Then let me learn this jutsu!" Obito immediately volunteered. "I'll transfer chakra to you from now on. I have a lot of chakra anyway!"

 _You'll go back to Konoha soon. I don't think you'll have much chance to use it on me, even if you do learn it,_ Kakashi replied inwardly.

However, there was no need to spoil the cosy atomsphere. So he just smiled and didn't say anything.

At that moment, Obito suddenly fell silent.

"Do you remember that?" When he spoke again, he changed the subject without warning. "The summer when Kushina was pregnant, we all got together and played Hyakumonogatari* at our house. Ibiki told a very creepy story that made us feel chilly, so Asuma took off his haori and draped it around Kurenai's shoulders."

"Of course I do," Kakashi nodded, although he had no idea why Obito was bringing this up. Those few good memories were valuable to him and worth treasuring forever. "Soon after Asuma gave his clothes to Kurenai, you asked me for mine. Everyone laughed and said you should instead give your clothes to Rin, but you insisted that Rin wasn't frightened at all, so she didn't need it."

"Indeed she wasn't," Obito muttered. "She even asked Ibiki for details and tried to find logical errors in his story." Then he said a little smugly, "although you refused to give me your clothes, you still lent me your tanto."

"Because you said it would drive away evil spirits. And if I recall correctly, I was in a single yukata then."

"So when it was Genma's turn to tell the story, I started to hug you from behind. So they all laughed again and asked me if you could drive away more evil spirits than your tanto."

"Right. Then you said with your bravado that you were worried if I got scared."

Obito sighed. "Yeah. I wish I had realized at that time that it actually meant I had a crush on you."

Kakashi froze. He opened his mouth, but was lost for words. The Uchiha confessed so unexpectedly that he was completely caught off guard.

Obito threw away his blanket. He turned over and lay on top of Kakashi. Their chests were pressed together with a thin blanket between them, and they could almost feel each other's body heat and heartbeat.

For a moment, it seemed that everything but each other had disappeared from their perception.

"The battle at Kannabi Bridge," Obito gazed at the scar across Kakashi's eyelid. "That mission and its butterfly effect might have really changed a lot of things. Back then I thought my crush was still Rin, but later, when I thought about it thoroughly, I found that who I paid close attention to and my eye was following had unknowingly changed to someone else."

"I had already fallen for you long before I realized it."

Obito reached out, pulled down the mask, and moved closer to brush the tip of Kakashi's nose with his. Successfully, he heard the other man's breathing become uneven.

"What about you, Kakashi?" He whispered. "Since when did you fall for me?"

To Obito, from the instant he asked the question, it seemed that time had been put on pause. It was only when Kakashi's gaze slowly moved over his scarred face and finally met his eye that it started to flow again.

"From the Kannabi Bridge," Kakashi replied. "From the moment you pushed me out from the falling boulder and gave me your eye. I had used to think that I wouldn't have affections to anyone, but it was the very moment I realized, Obito, that only if I lost you there did it become true. While at that time..." he lowered his eyes with silght sadness. "You seemed to be so fond of Rin."

Obito showed a bitter smile.

"See," he said. "We were really two big fools. One was unaware of his true feelings, and the other was afraid to speak it out despite knowing it. If it were not so, perhaps..."

He paused briefly and shook his head. "Let's not mention those unpleasant things. Fortunately, it's not too late. Never too late."

"Kakashi... I finally find you again."

Obito leaned down and kissed the silver-haired man on the lips; the latter responded with equal passion.

The black and white hair intertwined. The Sharingan gazed at the other Sharingan. They threw arms around each other's back, holding each other tightly, squeezing hard enough to leave bruises. They lost themselves in the intoxicating kiss, as if to make up for the eleven years that they had been separated.

"Remember it, Kakashi," Obito whispered into Kakashi's ear. "No matter what has happened and will happen, no matter what we will do and become... One thing will never change."

" _I love you._ "

He felt the arms around his back tightened again.

"So do I, Obito," Kakashi replied in the same determined and solemn voice. "Past, future, whatever happens."

" _I love you, too._ "

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dogeza: 土下座, kneeling and bowing until one's head touches the ground. It can be used to show deep apology.  
> Hyakumonogatari: 百物語, a popular Japanese game that participants told creepy stories in turn.
> 
> Next chapter: Obito-sensei went back to Konoha, and Chunin Exam started.  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


	19. You Need Me

After three more days in Otonashi no Sato, Obito decided to go back to Konoha. He didn't take his leave through formal processes, and it's because of Jiraiya who helped him out through the back door, and Sandaime, who knew all about it and turned a blind eye to it, that he was able to stay outside for such a long time without being recorded. The Chunin Exam would start in one week, while Suna's plot had not been reported to the top. Even if he wanted to stay with Kakashi a little longer, he could not abandon his responsibility as a sensei and Konoha ninja.

"I'll stay here until I'm fully recovered," Kakashi said. He leaned against the wall, the first aid kit Rin had made for him- Obito hadn't forgotten to give it to Kakashi- in his hand. "Kyoko-san is watching over Tide for me, and without Suna taking the lead, they may not dare to take the risk and be my enemy. As for Suna, with the failure of their operation and the upcoming Chunin Exam, I don't think they'll have any spare time to deal with me."

"Don't play tough guy," Obito stared at him, unable to rest assured. "I can come to you anytime, keep that in mind!"

"Yeah, yeah, you are welcome to do that. But I'm sure you'll also be busy, won't you?" Kakashi said, raising a restraining hand when he saw Obito was about to retort. "Don't worry, I'm not some hot-headed rookie. I've been a missing-nin for more than a decade, and I'm better at sensing and avoiding danger than you guys in the village."

Obito pursed his lips. He didn't like hearing Kakashi refer to himself as a missing-nin and calling him "you guys in the village", as if he was putting them into two separate categories. To his frustration, he had no position to correct that. Finally, he could only sullenly muttered, "okay, okay, you're good. You're the best."

Kakashi smiled. "Obito," he said softly. "Don't forget the promise we made to each other."

_-Whatever our positions and choices are, past or future, we always love each other._

Obito couldn't help but blush. "I... I know it, of course! How can I forget it? You must not forget either!"

"Yes, I won't forget either."

"Geez, are boys today so syrupy when they fall in love?" As the atmosphere was about to become strangely romantic, another voice suddenly rang out. Kyoko appeared in the doorway with her hands hidden in her kimono sleeves and an expression of amusement on her face. "Did I interrupt your goodbyes?"

"Kyo...Kyoko-san!" Obito jumped and whirled around. "No we aren't... Yes we are! We are syrupy! I just can't tear myself away from Kakashi!" He said, giving up hiding their relationship and trying not to be embarassed at all, but his ears were already strikingly red.

"Kyoko-san..." Kakashi said, resigned and amused.

"Sorry, sorry. It's just too much fun to tease Obito-chan," Kyoko covered her mouth with one hand and giggled. She then walked to Obito, conjured up a big heavy package and stuffed it into the Uchiha's hands. "Here are some Otonashi's specialties. Take them back and share with your companions as a token of my appreciation. And this," she took out a scroll. "If you want to contact Kakashi or inquire about something, you can always summon my ninhawk and sent it to me. I won't charge anything for Obito-chan's request!"

"Thank you, Kyoko-san," Obito said gratefully.

"No need to be so polite," Kyoko patted him fondly on the shoulder. "Have a good trip."

Obito nodded. He turned to look at Kakashi again. "So... I'm leaving now?"

Kakashi left the wall and straightened himself up. "Have a good trip. Send my greetings to Rin and Tenzou..." he paused, a somewhat odd emotion flashed across his eye. "and Jiraiya-sama."

This small detail didn't escape Obito's eyes, but he decided not to dig deeper for now. The successful result of this journey has already surpassed his expectation. He still had a lot of time, and as long as Kakashi stopped hiding from him, one day in the future, he would finally get to the bottom of the truth.

The tomoes spinned and changed as Obito activated his Mangekyo Sharingan. The rift opened; he kept gazing at Kakashi until the spiral crack swallowed him up.

* * *

It's already evening when Obito returned to Konoha and landed in his own bedroom. Rin had been staying at the Hatake's old house for the past few days, taking care of Naruto and Sasuke, and her exclusive guest room was right next door to Obito's. The moment she sensed his chakra, the brown-haired kunoichi immediately hurried over and pushed the door open, looking at him with surprise and anticipation.

"Obito! You're finally back! Is everything... going well?" There was a hint of apprehension that wasn't very well hidden in her voice. 

"Sure," Obito gave her a thumbs up and a big grin. "Although there were some twists and turns, it's impossible for the brilliant Obito-sama to fail!"

"Great..." Rin let out a long breath of relief, pressed her hand to her chest and leaned against the door frame. "You've been gone for so long without sending back any messages, and I didn't know how to contact you... Naruto has been asking me when you'd be back, so I couldn't help but asked Jiraiya-sama about you two days ago. He told me that the normal message hawk can't reach Otonashi no Sato, so there's nothing he could do."

"Sorry for worrying you, Rin," Obito said apologetically. The day after he and Kakashi returned to Otonashi no Sato, he had asked Kyoko if he could send a message to Konoha to tell Rin that they were safe, but Kyoko chuckled and told him that given the great distance between the two locations, it's likely that the ninhawk would just reach Konoha when Obito himself had gone back through Kamui, so sending a message would be meaningless.

"It's okay. You're back unharmed now anyway," Rin smiled and shook her head. "So, wanna tell me your story?"

"Of course," Obito nodded. "Get Tenzou and Jiraiya-sensei here too! I think they'll also want to know how Kakashi is doing."

So they acted separatedly. Rin went to send messages to Tenzou and Jiraiya, while Obito took the time to catch up with Naruto and Sasuke before they arrived. He had had no idea whether he would succeed in meeting and persuading Kakashi, and since Team Seven had always shown disapproval towards the silver-haired man, he had just told the kids that he would be on a secret mission. Now that he was satisfied and delighted, and since he had to explain the whole thing to his students sooner or later, he stopped concealing the truth and told the boys the real purpose of his trip.

"Obito-nii, why haven't you give up that annoying guy?" Naruto pouted as soon as he heard that Obito had actually left to look for Kakashi. "He's ungrateful and he abandoned his comrade! I don't want to admit that he's my dad's student!"

"Don't say that, Naruto," Obito rubbed the blond boy's hair. "Kakashi had his reasons. At that time in the Nation of Wave, everything he did was actually to help us. Think about it, back at Gatō's factory, when Zabuza and I were both injured, wouldn't it have been easy if he wanted to kill us all? And if he hadn't killed Gatō, we wouldn't have been able to complete the mission so smoothly."

"That's true..." Naruto muttered and frowned. "But I still can't understand. Why did he become a missing-nin?"

"It must have something to do with the mission that Mokuton ANBU mentioned earlier," Sasuke cut in. He looked at Obito with a vague criticism in his gaze, "unfortunately, someone was only willing to give us the beginning of the story, and kept tight-lipped about the remaining part."

"Well... because some of the details are not yet what you genins should pry into," Obito laughed dryly. "Rest assured, I'll definitely tell you all the ins and outs later!"

"Really?" Naruto's eyes lit up. He jumped on Obito and threw his arms around the elder Uchiha's waist. "Obito-nii, you have to keep your word! Or just tell us immediately!"

"Sakura's not here right now, is she? I'll talk about it tomorrow during the training break," Obito coaxed. After all, Kakashi's mission was under a gag order, and although he wanted to clear Kakashi's name right away, he had to consult Jiraiya first about what he could and could not say.

"All right," Naruto reluctantly accepted the excuse.

In the meantime, Jiraiya and Tenzou had arrived. After telling Naruto and Sasuke not to bother to eavesdrop, the four adults went to Obito's bedroom. As before, Jiraiya set a privacy barrier before they sat on the floor in a circle. Then Obito told them about his experience over the past few days- omitting the intimate interactions between him and Kakashi, of course. 

"Glad to know that senpai is all good and being taken care of," Tenzou said with a relieved look. His expression soon became serious. "But it really surprised me that despite being our ally, Suna is actually playing such a scheme behind the scenes."

"We don't knew yet if they'll play any tricks on the Chunin Exam," Obito said as he looked at Jiraiya. "Shouldn't we get prepared beforehand?"

"I'll report to Sarutobi-sensei about Suna," Jiraiya pondered for a moment and answered. "But unfortunately, I'm afraid there's very little we can do at this stage. As Kakashi said, he is a missing-nin, and any shinobi village has a legitimate reason to go after him. It's not enough to prove that Suna have an evil design on Konoha as well. The Chunin Exam has always been highly publicized, and in the absence of conclusive evidence, even the Hokage cannot forbid Suna's genins from coming to Konoha for the exam."

"Besides," Rin added softly. "We can't even spread our suspicion widely among Konoha's jonins and chunins. The more people know about it, the more likely it'll be given away. Once someone shows obvious hostility toward Suna shinobi, not only will it put them on alert, it will also give them a chance to accusing us first."

Obito smacked a fist into the palm of his hand in chagrin. Although he had discussed the situation with Kakashi before and come to the same conclusion, he still felt unhappy about being unable to fight back openly.

"Anyway, just leave it to me. I'll let you know as soon as there's any news," Jiraiya stood up. "It's late, and I'm leaving now."

"So am I," Tenzou echoed. "Goodbye, Obito-senpai, Rin-senpai."

Obito and Rin got up to see them off. The two stood at the window, watching Jiraiya and Tenzou fade away into the night; Rin broke the silence all of a sudden. "So, we'll done with the business for now. What about _your relationship with Kakashi_ then?"

"...Cough cough! ... hahaha Rin what are you talking about? What do you mean by my relationship with Kakashi?" Obito was thinking absent-mindedly about the plum cake that Kyoko had put in the package, and was caught off guard by the question，almost choked by his own saliva. "I... our previous misunderstanding in the Nation of Wave has been cleared up! Now we're still good... good friends! Partners! Comrades-"

"Obito, do you think I'm that stupid to believe even such lame lies?" Rin sighed resignedly. She suddenly turned around and stared compellingly at Obito, her finger almost poked his nose. "Or do you think I have such bad eyes that I can't even see your feelings towards him over the years?"

Obito leaned back and raised his hands high in surrender, his face as red as a boiled lobster. "I... I didn't mean to hide it from you, Rin," he explained awkwardly. "But you know... We used to... I used to... You used to..."

"You used to like me, and I used to like Kakashi, right?" Rin was quite frank on the contrary. She shrugged. "It's been so many years, and I had long let go of my crush on Kakashi. He was right about one thing... after all we've been through, no matter how much we try to deny it, Team Minato can never be the same as what we were again."

She lowered her eyes sadly before quickly looking up again, stepped forward and gave Obito a gentle hug.

"But you're forever the most important people to me," she whispered. "I just hope you guys are always safe and sound."

Obito's look softened. He reached out and hugged his teammate back.

"I know," he replied. "So do we."

* * *

Obito did make good on his promise the next day. After a morning of training, as Team Seven sat and had lunch under the tree in the Third Training Ground, the elder Uchiha told the whole story of Sakumo and Kakashi exactly as it had happened to Team Seven.

"Those ungrateful bastards!" After hearing what had happened to the father and son, Naruto immediately changed his side with tears in his eyes. "If I saw them, I would have pinned them on the ground and beat them up!"

"So, Obito-sensei, that mission you had back then at Kannabi Bridge..." Thoughtful as Sakura was, she was the first one to connect the dots. Seeing Obito nod, she hugged her knees to her chest with a guilty look on her face. "I thought he was trying to use us to catch you or Rin-sensei..."

"Don't blame yourself," Obito said and patted her shoulder soothingly. "You didn't know about these things back then."

"If Kakashi is innocent, then why does he still refuse to return to Konoha now?" Only Sasuke remained neutral and calmly pointed out. "With you and Jiraiya, one of the Sannin, it's perfectly possible to prove his innocence, isn't it?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out," Obito sighed. "But Kakashi didn't tell me the reason."

"He's trying so hard to hide a secret from you," Sasuke narrowed his eyes. "It must not be something good. Even if he was wrongly accused back then, who can guarantee that he hasn't harbored a grudge against the village because of it, and may take revenge on Konoha?"

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted before Obito could speak. "Stop being a dark-minded idiot! Obito-nii has said that Kakashi was a trustworthy companion, so he won't do harm to the village!"

"What you know about his doings in the past decade is just Kakashi's words," Sasuke sniffed. "What if he or the info broker didn't tell the truth? He' a cunning _missing-nin_...Obito is at least his teammate, why are you so kind-hearted to excuse him too?"

"You just-"

"Alright, that's the end of it!" Before Naruto lunged at Sasuke, Obito had grabbed him by the waist in time. "Since you're so energetic, you must have had enough rest," he said as he looked at them seriously, showing his authority as their sensei. "Double the training for this afternoon!"

Naruto wailed and instantly became downcast. The three kids slowly got up and shuffled off to the clearing, while Sakura was still lecturing Naruto, "it's your fault!"

Obito remained sitting under the tree. With a concerned look, he looked at Sasuke, who was two steps behind Naruto and Sakura and walking alone.

He knew very well that Sasuke's prejudice against Kakashi was not against the silver-haired man personally, but against his identity of missing-nin, which resulted from his hatred for his elder brother, Uchiha Itachi.

Before Itachi had left on the night of Uchiha Massacre, Obito had asked the ex-ANBU how he would face Sasuke in the future. Itachi didn't answer directly, and instead changed the subject in an evasive manner. But Obito could see clearly that Itachi was planning to let Sasuke avenge his parents and clan by killing him. So he made up his mind that he would absolutely stop this from happening at all costs.

When Sasuke was older, more experienced, and more mature; after he became Hokage and ended the blood feud between Danzo and his clan, he'd definitely tell Sasuke the true story, even if it went against Itachi's wish. It must be hard for Sasuke to accept that his elder brother had killed his parents, but the consequences would be even more tragic if Sasuke killed Itachi without knowing the truth.

Even if the brothers, like Team Minato, could never be the same as what they had been, Obito still hoped that they could both live on.

* * *

That night Jiraiya visited again. He told Obito that Sandaime had ordered ANBU to step up their patrols, but for now Konoha still had to stay put and wait for Suna to reveal their plot themselves. Although Obito was disappointed about it, he knew they had no other choices, so he could do nothing but keep his mouth shut and obey the order.

Four days later, the Chunin Exam was held as scheduled.

To be honest, Obito didn't expect much from Team Seven this time. The kids were still novices as shinobi, and lacked the experience to fight independently in the absence of their jonin sensei. Further more, the assessment criteria of Chunin Exam today was quite different from what it had been in his own childhood, when there was an urgent need for more shinobi to the frontline. Examiners now valued the comprehensive ability of genins more than pure combat power. That was to say, even if one can had the last laugh until the final tournament, promotion was not guaranteed, while those eliminated ones were not precluded, either.

Not to mention there was Suna's plot, which made it even uncertain that if the exam would be successfully concluded. Obito only hoped that his students would not be involved in the hidden conflict, and their Chunin Exam would end safely with enriched experience.

But it's Sod's Law- Team Seven didn't encounter with the Three Sand Siblings in the first two stages of the exam, just as Obito had hoped. However, he failed to foresee that his younger consin would be targeted and attacked by someone else, who was much more dangerous and evil.

-Orochimaru, the one shared the name of legendary Sannin with Jiraiya and Tsunade, an S-rank missing-nin who had defected Konoha many years ago.

It was already midday on the third day of the second stage when Obito and Rin, led by Sandaime himself, hurried to the tower in the center of the Forest of Death. There they met Anko, who had fought Orochimaru but got her cursed seal reactivated by the other man and was later rescued by ANBU.

"...You said Orochimaru branded Sasuke with the cursed seal?!" Hearing Anko's report, Obito was instantly enraged, his Sharingan activated with fury burning in the crimson pupil. "That damned bastard!"

Without throwing another glance to others in the room, he strode towards the window and was about to jump out of it.

"Wait, Obito!" Hiruzen stopped him. The Hokage withdrew his hand that was pressing on Anko's cursed seal and sighed. "That's why I didn't tell you what had happened before we came over. I knew you'd have such a reaction. Anyway, calm down first, come back and sit down!"

"Do we still have time to sit here and have a relaxed discussion?" Obito turned around sharply. "My students are in danger, and Orochimaru may strike at them again at any moment! Hokage-sama, isn't it time to immediately pause the exam and search for Orochimaru?"

"Unfortunately, Obito, that... won't work," Anko whispered as she slowly put her overcoat back on. She still looked pale with beads of cold sweat on her forehead. Rin was sitting beside her and treating her left hand, which had been pierced by kunai earlier in the battle. "Orochimaru declared that if we pause the exam, he'll destroy the whole village."

"Let him try," Obito growled. "I'll make him regret ever setting foot on Konoha again."

"I've told you to calm down," Hiruzen repeated. "There's more reason than Orochimaru's threat that we can't pause the Chunin Exam. It's not only an opportunity for genin to be promoted to chunin, but also an important occasion for villages to present their power and observe others. To some extent, it's a war between allies in miniature. When have you ever seen a war that can be easily stopped?"

Obito frowned. "If so, at least please allow me to bring Sasuke and the others out. As their jonin sensei, I decide to make them withdraw from the exam. Is that okay?"

"Just give up, Obito," Rin ended her treatment of Anko, stood up and walked over to the Uchiha. "You know very well that Sasuke will never willingly quit the exam halfway through, no matter what happens; neither does Naruto."

"How's Team Seven doing now?" Hiruzen turned to an ANBU next to him and asked.

"The lastest report came in half an hour ago. It said that they had encountered some other enemies, but the three genins were in good shape and haven't lost their fighting spirit or mobility." The ANBU replied, "like other remaining teams, Team Seven was heading for the tower, and Uchiha Sasuke looked all right. It seemed unnecessary to intervene for now."

The Hokage looked at Obito again. Rin shook her teammate's arm gently.

"...Fine," Obito finally said, his tone still reluctant. "I'll let them continue the exam. However, once the cursed seal is activated again, I'll certainly go and bring Sasuke out, even if it means disobeying orders."

He looked pointedly at the Hokage. "He's my _only_ blood relative now."

Sandaime gazed at the dark-haired Uchiha. After a while, the old man averted his eyes and took a deep puff on his pipe.

"It won't," he said. "At that time, I'll personally approve your action."

To Obito's relief, Team Seven finally managed to gather both the Heaven Scroll and the Earth Scroll and made it to the tower within the time limit. Led by Sandaime, he and Rin stood together with other jonin and looked at the seven teams that had passed the stage.

Obito sized his students up. Although the three were all smudged with dirt, and Sakura had somehow cut her hair, they still had the strength to fight. Sasuke looked fine, at least when the cursed seal was inactive, he wasn't in such bad shape that everyone could see it at first glance.

Of course, it's hard to say what would happen when he fought later.

Rin nudged him. Drawn back from his thought, Obito looked up at the electronic screen and found that the first match happened to be Sasuke's.

 _Not bad. The sooner it's over, the sooner we can give him treatment,_ he thought. Exchanging a look with Rin, he walked towards his students.

"Obito-nii!" Naruto was the first to see him. The blond boy immediately jumped up, waving at him excitedly. "We passed the second stage!"

"Well done, all of you!" Obito smiled and gave a thumbs up. He stopped beside Sasuke, put one hand on the younger Uchiha's shoulder, and nodded to Sakura and Naruto. "Come on, Rin's waiting for you upstairs."

"What?" After his teammates had left, Sasuke looked up at his sensei and guardian.

"We heard about the cursed seal and Orochimaru," Obito sighed and the smile on his face disappeared. "Although I would really like to advise you against using Sharingan, with your competitive nature, I'm afraid that you'll definitely forget my words as soon as you get hot-headed. So I'll leave it to your own judgement. Just avoid any acts of sheer bravado."

"Once the cursed seal gets out of control and we decide that your life is in danger, we'll forcefully intervene to stop the match." He gave Sasuke's shoulder a firm squeeze before putting down his hand and walking toward the stands. "Rest assured... I'll never let you die."

Maybe Sasuke did keep Obito's words in mind. After only a few minutes, the first match ended in a thrilling atmosphere. Sasuke won without surprise; although the cursed seal kicked in at one point, he managed to suppress it with his own willpower and finally defeated his opponent with a self-invented taijutsu, Lion Combo.

Too urgent to feel longer proud of his younger cousin, after the match was over, Obito immediately took Sasuke out of the hall with Rin. They went to a room they had prepared beforehand, where Obito wrote symbols in his own blood on Sasuke's body and activated the B-rank Fuinjutsu, Evil Sealing Method.

"He's fine, just too tired." Sasuke collapsed as soon as the seal was completed. Rin knelt down to check him and told Obito. "He still needs some follow-up treatment, but there's nothing serious. He only needs to rest for a few days."

"That's good," Obito breathed a sigh of relief. Rin got up and walked over to him. She held his cut finger in her palms, which were glowing a soft green light.

"Obito," she said with her head down. "Do you have any idea why Orochimaru would go after Sasuke?"

Obito's expression became serious.

"I do," he answered. "What Orochimaru wants is probably the bloodline limit of Uchiha."

"...Eh?" The glow of Mystical Palm Jutsu disappeared. The brown-haired kunoichi looked up at him in surprise.

"Of course, I'm just guessing. I don't have any evidence, but it's the only possible answer I can think of at the moment." Obito put his glove back on. He grabbed his own right arm, leaving a few creases in his sleeve. "Orochimaru has always been passionate about exploring the mysteries of the human body and various bloodline limit. I wouldn't have survived if he hadn't been working on Hashirama's cells back then. But when I look back, I remember that he had an abnormally strong interest in Sharingan. In addition to recording how Hashirama's cells fused with my body every day, he has repeatedly asked me about the feeling of awakening my Sharingan. I'm afraid that Orochimaru is after Sasuke for his eyes."

"First Suna and then Orochimaru... it's really hard to believe that it's just a coincidence," Rin pondered. "Could they be colluding?"

"Very possible," Obito nodded. "Since Suna even included Kakashi's Sharingan in their plan, they certainly wouldn't miss the chance to join forces with Orochimaru who hates Konoha. Things get knottier now... We'd better tell Jiraiya-sensei or Sandaime about it."

"Let's talk to them after the preliminaries are over," Rin said. "I'll take Sasuke to the hospital now. Naruto and Sakura are going to have their matches, and as their sensei you should stay with them."

"Hold on, Rin," Obito stopped her. "The thought of Orochimaru still lurking in the village makes me feel uneasy. Unlike Suna, he knows every place in Konoha and is as powerful as Jiraiya-sensei. If he continues to strike at Sasuke, even you will be in danger. Now there is only one place that is absolutely safe."

"You mean..." Rin was startled but soon understood.

"Exactly," Obito pointed to his own eye. The black pupil instantly turned bright red, and the three tomoes turned into the shape of a windmill. "Kamui's dimension. Just stay there with Sasuke for a while, and we'll go back together after the preliminaries."

* * *

The preliminaries ended successfully.

Sakura and Ino were both knocked out and eliminated; Naruto defeated Kiba and qualified for the finals. After the finalists had drawn lots to decide who they would fight in the first round, Hiruzen announced that they would have one month to recuperate and improve themselves.

"Obito-sensei, how is Sasuke-kun doing?" Sakura asked Obito after they were dismissed.

"Don't worry, he's fine," Obito assured her. "Rin is taking care of him now."

"Train me, Obito-nii!" Naruto exclaimed eagerly, his blue eyes staring at Obito with expectation. "I must become stronger in one month, and show Neji what a deadlast can do!"

"Well," Obito scratched the back of his head with an apologetic smile. "Sorry Naruto, but I have to look after Sasuke." Seeing the blond boy pouting disappointedly, he instantly added, "however, I've already found a great sensei for you."

"Who is that?" Naruto crossed his arms and squinted at the black-haired jonin with a skeptical look. "Is there a better sensei than you, Obito-nii?"

"Haha... although I'm happy to hear you say that, but that person is indeed more suitable to teach you," Obito said as he rubbed Naruto's hair. "Let's go! You'll see when you get home."

They left the Forest of Death, said goodbye to Sakura and returned to the Hatake's old house. There was a tall figure sitting on the courtyard wall, and when he saw them appear, he jumped down lightly, his Geta hit the ground with a clatter. "Yo! Did you pass the preliminary, Naruto?"

"Perverted Sage!" Naruto cried out in surprise. He turned his head to Obito, "Obito-nii, is Preverted Sage the sensei you're talking about?"

"I've told you many times not to call me like that... Where's my dignity as an elder?" Jiraiya slumped his shoulder dramatically. Then he suddenly realized the point of Naruto's words. "Wait, sensei? What sensei?"

"Well... Naruto and Sasuke both passed the preliminaries, and they'll face strong rivals in the first round," Obito replied as he held back a snicker. "It's too hard for me to take care of them at the same time, so I wish you can train Naruto." He bent down and whispered in Naruto's ear, "Isn't Summoning Jutsu sound cool? Back then your dad just stood on Toad Boss's head and fought Kyuubi!"

"Wow!" Naruto's eyes instantly lit up. "Perverted Sage!" He shouted and threw himself at Jiraiya. "Teach me that super powerful Summoning Jutsu! I wanna learn it!"

"...Ouch!" Jiraiya caught Naruto by his hands. He did a twirl with the boy before putting him down. "Want to learn Summoning Jutsu, Naruto? I'll be strict with you."

"It won't scare me!" Naruto waved his fist with confidence.

Jiraiya patted his head lovingly. Then the Toad Sage looked at Obito, his expression turned serious.

"Before that," he said. "Let's talk."

Sent Naruto to have his dinner, the two men entered Obito's room. Obito activated his Mangekyo Sharingan to release Rin and Sasuke from Kamui's dimension.

"You did a good job," Jiraiya said after checking the cursed seal. "That's all we can do for now."

Re-covering Sasuke with the blanket, he straightened up and looked at the two members of Team Minato. "You must keep an eye on Sasuke, and don't miss any abnormal signal. What's more, never let him have any more contact with Orochimaru or his men."

"What do you mean?" Obito frowned.

"I'm worried that Orochimaru may use power as bait to lure Sasuke to his side," Jiraiya let out a sigh. "As you know, Sasuke is bent on taking revenge on Itachi, so he's more eager than anyone to become stronger. Not that I don't trust the kid, but... I've seen too many people who have taken the wrong path because of their pursuit of power."

Obito's face darkened. "I'll definitely not let this happen," he said categorically.

"In any case, stay alert," Jiraiya nodded. He shook his hand and headed for the door, "Sasuke need quiet, so I'll take Naruto with me. I'll teach him as much as I can before the finals. Sasuke will count on you two."

"Okay," Obito and Rin replied in unison.

The door closed behind Jiraiya. They soon heard him and Naruto talking in the kitchen; the blond boy's cheerful, loud voice floated clearly upstairs, his tone loaded with excitement.

"How do you plan to train Sasuke when he wakes up?" Rin looked at Obito.

"That Suna boy named Gaara is strong," Obito said thoughtfully. "Lee has used the Eight Gates but still lost to him. His Sand Armour is tricky, and if Sasuke can't keep up with the speed of the sand, he can't even hurt him."

"Even Lee-kun...?" Rin showed an astonished expression.

"Yeah, you'd better go check on him and Guy later," Obito said. "Lee has proven that pure taijutsu can't beat Gaara, while normal ninjutsu are too slow and not strong enough."

"Then what should we do?" Rin turned her eyes to the sleeping boy on the bed with concern.

"Don't worry, I've thought of a way to deal with it on the way back," Obito winked at her mysteriously. "Do you remember the nature of Sasuke's chakra? Lightning plus Sharingan, extremely fast and destructive... There's a tailor-made ninjutsu for him."

Rin's eyes widened with excitement. "That's..."

"You're right," Obito grinned. "I'm going to have Kakashi teach Chidori to Sasuke."

* * *

Although he looked confident in front of Rin, in fact, Obito was not that certain at heart when he said he would ask Kakashi to teach Sasuke.

It's an undoubted fact that Chidori was the most suitable ninjutsu for Sasuke to learn, and would definitely be of great use in his match with Gaara. However, it's also the signature ninjutsu that Kakashi had relied on to make a name for himself. Obito was not sure that if Kakashi would be willing to teach Chidori to Sasuke, since he and the younger Uchiha were merely acquaintances.

Although Obito knew that Kakashi would make concessions if he insisted, he didn't want to force Kakashi, even for the sake of his own students.

Besides, even if Kakashi agreed, where Sasuke would take the training would still be a problem. Since Suna shinobi as well as Orochimaru were now in Konoha, as one of the village's top soldiers, Obito couldn't leave Konoha again at this juncture. It would be feasible to send Sasuke to Otonashi no Sato and bring him back when the deadline was near, but thinking about how his little cousin was difficult to deal with, Obito couldn't help but worry that whether the kid could get along with Kyoko and Kakashi if he was not there.

As for the idea of letting Kakashi come to Konoha himself... he had crossed it out from the start.

Sighing, Obito threw back the blanket and sat up. Rin had told him to keep an eye on Sasuke's body temperature tonight, so Obito had taken his futon to Sasuke and Naruto's room and decided to sleep on the floor tonight. He stood up and touched Sasuke's forehead to make sure everything was okay before gingerly walking out and going back to his own room.

He sat down at his desk and turned on the desk lamp. Spreading out a blank scroll, he meditated for a while and took his pen, muttering as he wrote:

_"...So I'm thinking that if Sasuke could master Chidori, he could break Gaara's absolute defense. This is the most direct and effective way."_

_"...I know that Chidori is your signature ninjutsu, so the decision is totally in your hand. We can surely find another way to break the Sand Armour."_

_"...I can pick you up in a neighboring town and take you into Konoha through Kamui. We can just use Kamui's dimension as a training ground, or pick somewhere in the forest around Konoha if you prefer to be outside."_

_"...You really don't have to force yourself to agree. I don't want you to do something you dislike because of me."_

_"...You don't have to stay here too long. I have seen Chidori many times, so after he has known the basic, I can train him until he masters it."_

_"...You really really don't have to force yourself."_

After writing a large piece of content, Obito put down the pen and read it again silently from beginning to end.

"If I repeat 'don't force yourself' too many times, will he think that I'm retreating in order to advance?" He muttered to himself, "fine, whatever."

Obito summoned Kyoko's ninhawk, put the scroll inside the pouch on the bird's back and pulled open the window.

"Come on!" He said and reached out. The ninhawk spread its wings and flew high in the direction of the moon.

The black-haired jonin watched the bird disappear into the night. Then he went back to Sasuke's room and fell back to sleep.

* * *

The days of waiting for a reply were tough.

On the third day after the ninhawk's departure, Obito thought that it had just arrived at Kyoko's; on the fifth day, he thought that Kakashi needed some time to think about it; on the seventh day, he thought that Kakashi might have lied and had left Otonashi no Sato soon after him, so Kyoko had to get the Hatake back first; on the tenth day... well, Obito thought he had run out of excuses.

But he didn't show this anxiety on his face. Since Sasuke woke up, Obito had been training him to improve his taijutsu and speed. Whether he would learn Chidori or not, speed was always essential to fight Gaara.

He didn't tell Sasuke about Chidori. He didn't want to give the kid hope first and then disappoint him.

On the eleventh night after the ninhawk had left, Obito sat at his desk, burying his head in a scroll spread out in front of him with cramped but neet writing on it.

Today during the day, Sandaime called an emergency meeting of all jonin and special jonin. The body of the judge of the preliminaries, Gekko Hayate, was found on the roof of Kikyo Castle in a horrible state of death. Before he was killed, he had secretly written a message in his palm with blood, in code of ANBU. The message after being deciphered was: _Suna and Oto colluded. Kabuto is a spy._

What was also found nearby at the same time was the body of Dosu Kinuta, a candidate from Otogakure. The whole night, Obito had been studying the autopsy report written by Rin, hoping to uncover some useful information from it.

Rubbing his eye, Obito looked up at the alarm clock on his desk and found it's almost eleven. He sat up straight, stretched and yawned. He was about to wash up and go to bed when he suddenly heard a light knock on the window.

Obito turned his head. The next moment, his eye widened, lit up with surprise and joy-

Outside the window, the silver-haired missing-nin was crouching on his tiptoes on the narrow windowsill, keeping his balance with one hand gripping the wall with chakra. He was in a black cloak with a hood, which covered him from head to toe, his figure almost blending in with the darkness of the night.

"Ka... Kakashi?!" Obito was not sleepy at all in no time. He pushed the chair away and jumped up, trotting to the window and yanking it open. "You... how... how could you..."

He wanted to say _how could you sneak straight into Konoha, it's so dangerous_ , but his mouth and tongue seemed suddenly paralysed. The overflowing joy in his heart threatened to spill out, making him unable to do anything other than grinning stupidly.

Tilting his head slightly, Kakashi curled up his eyes and smiled at Obito.

"You need me," he said. "So here I am."

In this moment, Obito was firmly convinced that he was the happiest person in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some background about Naruto: He was adopted by Obito at two (soon after Kakashi's defection). When he got older, Obito told him about his parents. Because of Obito and Rin's protection, although most villagers were still hostile to him, no one dared to beat him or say insulting words to his face. He had known Sasuke very early through Obito and Itachi, and the two soon became friends. He also met Jiraiya early, and knew the man was his dad's sensei, but he wasn't quite clear about how strong the Toad Sage was.  
> In a word, Naruto had a much better childhood than in canon. And please don't blame canon Kakashi... I don't think Kishimoto has decided to make Naruto Minato's son or Kakashi Minato's student right at the beginning. It's just a bug in character relationships during the development of such a long story.
> 
> Next chapter: More fluff, Kakashi being Sasuke's sensei, and the reunion of Team Minato (Rin: Finally!).  
> Thank you for reading and hope you enjoy! Please let me see your feedback! ❤


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